Charity CEO jobs · Charity chief executive roles
Charity CEO jobs · charity chief executive roles
Charity CEO jobs are the most senior staff post in a charity: you run the staff team, services, income and budget, and you answer to a board of trustees. Roles are advertised by the charity itself, sometimes through a search firm, and on sector job boards such as ACEVO’s. Posts may be permanent, interim or part-time.
We send trustees a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting, so candidates know the pay before they meet the panel.
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
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a charity CEO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Charity 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
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Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a Charity CEO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
Charity CEO jobs: what the role looks like
A charity chief executive is the most senior member of staff. NCVO’s guidance for boards sets out the shape of the job: the chief executive reports to the board, manages the staff team and leads the organisation day to day. The board holds the chief executive accountable, and the chair usually manages them.
The job varies with the charity’s size, income and work. At a small local charity the chief executive may be the only senior manager, writing grant bids and running services themselves. At a large national charity they lead a senior team across fundraising, finance, operations and policy, and they are the public voice of the organisation.
Who hires: the trustees
Trustees make the appointment, usually through an appointment panel of a few trustees led by the chair, which recommends a candidate to the full board. The Charity Commission’s The essential trustee (CC3) says trustees can delegate to senior staff but cannot delegate their overall responsibility, and that the chair usually line manages the chief executive on the trustees’ behalf. So your first working relationship is with the chair, and your authority is whatever the board delegates in writing.
Before you apply, read the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission’s register of charities. It shows what the charity does, who its trustees are, its income and spending, and any action the Commission has taken. Charities in Scotland are registered with OSCR, and those in Northern Ireland with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
02/ scope
Charity chief executive jobs: what boards ask for
When trustees hire a chief executive, they test four areas, whatever the cause. Expect the panel to ask for evidence on each, not just a job title.
Income generation
Boards want to know how you have grown and protected income: donations, legacies, grants, contracts and trading. Be ready to explain a funding loss you managed, and how you reported income to a board and to funders.
Regulation
Chief executive posts at charities in England and Wales are covered by the automatic disqualification rules. A disqualified person cannot hold the post, even on an interim basis, unless the Charity Commission has waived the disqualification. It is the function of the role that counts, not the title. Charities are told in the Commission’s guidance for charities not to appoint a disqualified senior manager, so expect to be asked to confirm you are not disqualified.
Governance
You will work to a volunteer board. Panels ask how you have supported a chair, taken papers to trustees and handled disagreement with the board. Boards may use the Charity Governance Code as a benchmark; the Code itself says compliance with it is not a regulatory requirement.
People
Charities run on staff and volunteers. Expect questions on leading a team through change, on safeguarding, and on keeping people when pay is tight.
How we help trustees and candidates
For trustees, we run the search and send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. Boards that need to hire a charity CEO can read how the process works on our charity CEO recruitment page. For candidates, every shortlist we send sets out pay or day rate, so you know the pay before you meet the panel. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.
03/ vetting
How we vet charity CEOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Charity 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
04/ charity ceo pay
How charity CEO pay is set and why we give no figure
Pay for a charity chief executive is the board’s decision. NCVO’s guidance for boards lists it among the questions a board should settle: how it will decide how much the chief executive is paid. Its guidance on setting salaries says charities should balance affordability, internal fairness and external competitiveness, and names ACEVO’s annual Pay and Equalities Survey as the most comprehensive breakdown of the sector’s chief executive pay.
We hold no sourced figure for charity chief executive salaries, so this page gives none. Pay depends on the charity’s size, income and complexity. On every shortlist we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate, so the panel and the candidate see it before interview.
05/ interim charity ceo
Interim charity CEO jobs covering the post between chief executives
An interim charity CEO holds the post when a chief executive leaves before a successor starts, or leads a charity through a merger, a funding crisis or a turnaround. Trustees hire an interim for a fixed term, so they can run a full search without leaving the charity leaderless. The disqualification rules apply to an interim chief executive just as they do to a permanent one.
On pay, the Institute of Interim Management’s Interim Management Survey 2026 puts the average third-sector interim day rate at £728. That is an average across all interim assignments in the sector, not a chief executive rate; we set out each candidate’s day rate on the shortlist.
Interims who work through their own company may fall under the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status is decided by how the engagement runs. In most cases the client makes the determination; a small client outside the public sector leaves it to the worker’s own company. See our IR35 guide, and for interim chief executive roles outside the sector, interim CEO jobs.
06/ where to find roles
Where charity CEO jobs are advertised and how to track them
Start with the charities you care about. Charities advertise senior roles on their own websites, and some hire a search firm to find candidates. ACEVO Jobs, run by ACEVO, the membership body for charity and civil society chief executives, lists only chief executive, senior management and trustee roles, with job alerts.
The Charity Commission does not list vacancies. Its register is for research: use it to read a charity’s accounts and trustee list before you apply, and to check how its income has moved.
Serving as a trustee is one way to see how a board works from the inside before you apply for a chief executive post. Our non-executive director recruitment page covers board roles. For senior roles across every sector, see our fractional and interim jobs board.
07/ questions
Charity CEO jobs FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a charity CEO.
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.
