CFO jobs · Chief financial officer vacancies · Permanent, interim and fractional
CFO jobs · permanent, interim and fractional
CFO jobs are chief financial officer roles: the most senior seat in a company’s finance function, leading the team, setting financial strategy and reporting to the board. They come as permanent full-time posts, interim assignments and fractional or part-time seats. The board below shows the CFO roles on our board, with permanent roles first where the posting says full-time.
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional and part-time finance leaders, 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.
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 finance 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 CFO jobs today.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a CFO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CFO 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
CFO jobs jobs on the board
Current CFO roles on our board
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a CFO brief and a shortlist of three to five.
01/ the role
CFO jobs: what the board holds
The board on this page holds the CFO roles on our board: chief financial officer, group CFO and CFO roles in every mode of work. Roles whose posting says full-time come first. Interim, fractional and part-time CFO roles follow, and where a posting states how the role is engaged, the listing says so. When there are few CFO roles, the board widens to the finance director and financial controller seats below it, and says that it has.
What the seat does
ICAEW describes the CFO or finance director as the most senior role in the finance function: leading and mentoring the finance team, overseeing budgeting, forecasting and planning, managing financial risk, reporting to the board and to outside stakeholders, and leading on investment, mergers and acquisitions. Robert Half’s CFO profile adds cash flow, fundraising, banking covenants and investor relations. For the day-to-day picture, see what a CFO does.
One seat, several ways to hold it
A permanent CFO is employed full-time and owns the function for years. An interim CFO holds the seat for a fixed period, to cover a departure or carry a transaction. A fractional or part-time CFO holds it for agreed days a week, often in a smaller business that needs board-level finance without a full-time salary. The job title is the same; the contract, the days and the tax position are not.
02/ scope
How to get a CFO job
1. Qualify as an accountant
Most CFO postings ask for a chartered qualification. Robert Half’s CFO profile expects a qualified accountant (ACA or equivalent) and says an MBA can help. The three routes are the ICAEW’s ACA (technical learning, practical experience and professional skills), the ACCA qualification (exams, ethics and professional experience) and CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification, whose Strategic level covers financial strategy and risk.
2. Run a finance function first
The usual path runs through financial controller and finance director. ICAEW’s account of one finance manager who became a CFO describes the FD seat as the point where the board starts testing you, and the CFO seat as the step into strategic leadership. Our guide on how to become a CFO sets out the steps.
3. Show the board work
A CFO shortlist is decided on board reporting, investors, the bank and transactions, not on the close. In a listed company the board works under the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code, which, for financial years from 1 January 2026, asks boards to declare whether their material internal controls are effective. In an FCA-regulated firm, the most senior decision makers hold senior management functions and must be approved before they start.
4. Pick the route in
Not every CFO job is permanent. Interim CFO jobs cover a gap or a transaction for a set period; fractional CFO jobs and part-time CFO jobs hold the seat for set days a week. 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
CFO jobs by type
Every page we keep for the CFO seat, one per kind of role or question. We recruit permanent, interim, fractional and part-time CFOs.
04/ vetting
How we vet CFOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CFO 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 financial officer jobs
Chief financial officer jobs the seat and its titles
Chief financial officer jobs are advertised under several titles. Chief financial officer and CFO are the same seat; group CFO runs finance across a group of companies. In owner-managed and mid-sized businesses the top finance seat is often called finance director, and ICAEW treats the two together. Robert Half’s profile puts the CFO on the executive board as the CEO’s adviser on financial activity, with commercial projects, cash flow, planning and risk in the brief.
Some chief financial officer jobs carry a statutory duty with them. In a company that qualifies, HMRC requires a Senior Accounting Officer: the director or officer with overall responsibility for the company’s financial accounting arrangements. It must be a director or officer, so it cannot be handed to an adviser. Ask whether the seat carries it before you accept.
Read the posting for who the seat reports to and what it owns. A CFO job reporting to a founder before a funding round is a different job from a group CFO seat in a listed company, even with the same title.
06/ permanent cfo jobs
Permanent CFO jobs the market and the pay
Permanent CFO jobs are full-time employed roles, and they are the ones listed first on this page. Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a full-time UK CFO at £132,500 at the 25th percentile, £176,500 at the median and £220,500 at the 75th percentile, with a financial services CFO median of £177,500 (Robert Half). Robert Half is a recruiter, and these are its own starting-salary projections.
Base pay is one part of a permanent package. Bonus, equity, pension and notice period vary widely by company stage and ownership, so compare offers line by line. For the pay picture across permanent, interim and fractional seats, see our CFO salary guide.
Some permanent CFO searches are run by a headhunter rather than an open advert. Our CFO headhunter page sets out how a permanent CFO search works from the hiring side.
07/ questions
CFO jobs FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a CFO.
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.
