CEO jobs · Chief executive officer vacancies · Permanent, interim and fractional

CEO jobs · permanent, interim and fractional

CEO jobs are chief executive officer roles: the most senior executive seat in a company or charity, answerable to the board for strategy, results and the leadership team. They come as permanent full-time posts, interim assignments and fractional or part-time seats. The board below shows the roles on our board for this seat, permanent roles first where the posting says full-time.

We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary executives, and non-executive directors. Hiring rather than looking? On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on a CEO hire →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

In the press

Financial Times The executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance (paywall)
Some senior leaders now hold leadership seats in several companies at once rather than one permanent post. It is one of the choices in front of anyone looking at CEO jobs today.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches a client

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CEO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CEO candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

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On the board · last 3 months

CEO jobs jobs on the board

1 on the board · 0 confirmed open

InterimSyndicated
Interim Chief Executive Officer (Women's Health Charity)
Verity (PMOS UK) · United Kingdom
Rate not stated3 d/wk

Browse every role on the board →

Current CEO and managing director roles on our board

Fractional recruitment works differently from a permanent search — shorter, scoped by days a week, and priced on the engagement. Send a CEO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.

01/ the role

CEO jobs: what the board holds

The board on this page holds the CEO roles on our board: chief executive, CEO and group CEO roles in every mode of work. Employers use managing director for the same seat, so those roles sit here too. Roles whose posting says full-time come first. Interim, fractional and part-time CEO roles follow, and where a posting states how the role is engaged, the listing says so. When there are few CEO roles, the board widens to the C-suite seats beside it and says that it has.

What the seat does

A chief executive sets the strategy the board agrees, builds and leads the executive team, owns the plan and the results, and is the company’s senior voice to investors, customers, staff and regulators. In a founder-led business the CEO is often also the largest shareholder; in a group or a private equity-backed business, the CEO answers to a board that represents the owners. For the full picture, see what a CEO does.

Most CEO jobs come with a seat on the board, and the law follows the directorship. A director must perform the seven general duties of a director under the Companies Act 2006, including promoting the success of the company, and must verify their identity with Companies House.

One seat, several ways to hold it

A permanent CEO is employed full-time and leads the business for years. An interim CEO holds the seat for a set period, to cover a departure, a turnaround or the run-up to a sale. A fractional CEO holds it for agreed days a week, often beside a founder who wants to step back from running the business. The title is the same; the contract, the days and the tax position are not.

02/ scope

How to get a CEO job

1. Run something whole first

There is no qualification that makes a chief executive. A CEO shortlist is decided on results you were answerable for: a profit and loss account, a team and a market. The usual path runs through a functional C-suite seat (finance, operations or commercial) into running a division, a subsidiary or a smaller company. Managing director jobs are the most common step before the top seat.

2. Add the board credentials

Where a posting asks for a credential, it is usually a board one. The IoD’s Chartered Director Programme runs in three stages: the Certificate in Company Direction, the Diploma in Company Direction, then an interview and assessment of business experience. CMI’s Chartered Manager status is the Royal Charter mark for management and leadership. Neither is required by law.

3. Show the board work

Expect to be tested on the strategy you set and delivered, the hardest people decision you made, and how you worked with a chair, owners or investors. In a listed company the board works under the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code on a comply-or-explain basis. In an FCA-regulated firm the chief executive holds a senior management function and must be approved before starting. Our guide on how to become a CEO sets out the steps.

4. Pick the route in

Not every CEO job is permanent. Interim CEO jobs cover a gap, a turnaround or a sale; fractional CEO jobs hold the seat for set days a week; charity CEO jobs lead a charity for its trustees. If you work through your own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply: status turns on how the engagement runs, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

03/ related roles

CEO jobs by type

Every page we keep for the chief executive seat, one per kind of role or question. We recruit permanent, interim, fractional and part-time CEOs.

Fractional CEO jobsInterim CEO jobsFractional CEOInterim CEOCharity CEO jobsManaging director jobsCEO salaryWhat does a CEO do?How to become a CEOCEO job descriptionCEO interview questions

04/ vetting

How we vet CEOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify CEO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

05/ chief executive officer jobs

Chief executive officer jobs the seat and its titles

Chief executive officer jobs are advertised under several titles. Chief executive, CEO and chief executive officer are the same seat; group CEO leads several businesses under one holding company; managing director is often the title for the top executive of an owner-managed company or of one business inside a group. Founder and CEO describes the seat in a start-up, usually with a large shareholding attached.

Read the posting for who the seat answers to and what it owns. A CEO job reporting to a founder-chair before a funding round is a different job from a chief executive seat in a listed company or a private equity portfolio business, even with the same title. In a charity the chief executive answers to the trustees.

Chief executive officer vacancies at board level are often filled through a search rather than an open advert, so search the titles together and sort by what each role owns. To compare the seats below the top job, see managing director jobs.

06/ permanent ceo jobs

Permanent CEO jobs the market and the pay

Permanent CEO jobs are full-time employed roles, and they are the ones listed first on this page. Exec Capital’s CEO salary guide gives 2026 base salary bands by company size: £70,000–£130,000 at an early-stage start-up (pre-Series A), £120,000–£250,000 at an SME (£5m–£50m revenue) and £200,000–£400,000 at a mid-market business (£50m–£250m revenue). Exec Capital is a recruiter, and it says the SME and growth-stage ranges draw on Glassdoor, Boardroom Advisors and its own placement data.

Base pay is one part of a permanent package. Bonus, equity or a management incentive plan, pension and notice period vary widely by ownership and stage, and in a private equity-backed business much of a chief executive’s reward can come through equity. Compare offers line by line. For the pay picture across permanent, interim and fractional seats, see our CEO salary guide, and for charities, charity CEO salary.

For a hirer, a permanent CEO search starts with what the seat owns and who it answers to. Our hire a CEO page sets out how we run an executive brief; for a charity, see charity CEO recruitment.

07/ questions

CEO jobs FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CEO.

On this page: the board shows the roles on our board for this seat, chief executive and managing director roles together, permanent roles first where the posting says full-time, then interim, fractional and part-time. Each kind of CEO role also has its own page, from interim CEO jobs to fractional CEO jobs and charity CEO jobs.

Roles leading a whole organisation: setting the strategy with the board, leading the executive team, owning the results and speaking for the business to investors, staff and regulators. The same seat is advertised as CEO, chief executive and, in many owner-managed businesses, managing director. See what a CEO does.

It depends most on company size. Exec Capital’s CEO salary guide gives 2026 base bands of £70,000–£130,000 at an early-stage start-up, £120,000–£250,000 at an SME (£5m–£50m revenue) and £200,000–£400,000 at a mid-market business (£50m–£250m revenue). Bonus and equity come on top. Interim and fractional CEOs are paid by the day; see our CEO salary page.

Build a record of running something whole: move from a functional C-suite seat into running a division, a subsidiary or a smaller company, and show results you were answerable for. Board credentials such as the IoD’s Chartered Director help but are not required. Interim and fractional roles are another way into the seat. See how to become a CEO.

Often only the title. In a standalone company the managing director is the chief executive under another name. In a group, the group CEO sets strategy across the businesses and each managing director runs one of them. See managing director jobs.

Usually, but the title alone does not appoint anyone to the board. Where the CEO is a director, the duties of a company director apply in full, and the director must verify their identity with Companies House.

It depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on its label. In most cases a medium or large client makes the determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist and do not promise an outcome.

Decide whether the seat is permanent, interim or for set days a week, then write down what it owns and who it answers to. To hire for set days a week or a permanent seat, start with our hire a CEO page; for cover or a turnaround, interim CEO jobs. On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5 after five-stage vetting.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

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