CTO recruitment · CTO recruiters · CTO recruitment agency
CTO Recruitment · how it works
CTO recruitment is the work of finding, assessing and appointing a chief technology officer.
It turns on three things: a brief that says what the CTO will own, from platform to team to cyber risk; a search that reaches technologists in post; and an assessment that tests technical judgement and leadership by people able to judge both.
We are a recruiter for fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.
On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
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
Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Worth reading before you brief a recruiter on a part-week technology seat. Business leaders set out when a fractional C-suite hire makes sense and when the seat needs someone full-time.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a CTO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CTO 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
CTO roles jobs on the board
No CTO roles roles on the board in the last three months. Showing technology leadership roles instead.
Current technology leadership roles
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a CTO brief and a shortlist of three to five.
01/ the cross
Where a permanent hire becomes cheaper.
Move the day rate and the days a week: the rising line is a month of part-week cost, the flat line a permanent hire’s month. Where they cross, the seat should go full-time.
At 3.5 days a week a permanent hire costs less.
Our arithmetic. Permanent a month = the salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI, plus the 30% search fee spread over 12 months — the calculator’s inputs. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each step.
Permanent = the £160,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
02/ the role
CTO recruitment: how it works
A recruiter either introduces candidates you then employ, or supplies people who work for you on contract.
GOV.UK’s guide to the Conduct Regulations calls the first an employment agency and the second an employment business.
A permanent CTO is introduced; an interim or fractional one may be introduced or supplied, often through their own company.
Pitch the seat at the right level
Technology titles inflate.
The SFIA framework’s levels of responsibility describe the top level as one that determines overall organisational vision and strategy and takes accountability for overall success.
A board seat sits there.
Someone who has led a strong engineering team without owning the strategy sits lower, and may be the better hire for the work in front of you.
Most CTO recruiting that goes wrong goes wrong here: a builder is briefed for a strategy seat, or a strategist for a build.
Write a CTO job description around what the person will own (roadmap, platform, the engineering team, suppliers, security) before anyone is approached.
Security belongs in the brief
Boards are expected to govern cyber risk, and the CTO is usually who briefs them.
The NCSC’s Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards is built around the Cyber Governance Code of Practice.
Ask every candidate how they would brief your board on it.
03/ scope
What good CTO recruiters do
1. They take a full brief
Under Regulation 18 of the Conduct Regulations (GOV.UK), an agency must not introduce a candidate until it has enough from you to choose a suitable one: who you are, what the business does, the start date, how long the work lasts, the duties, location, hours, and any experience or qualifications you need.
For a permanent seat it also needs the minimum pay, benefits and notice period.
A good CTO recruiter also asks about the stack, the size and shape of the team, the debt in the codebase, and whether funding or a sale is coming.
Those decide who can do the job.
2. They search beyond the market
The strongest candidates are often in post and not looking.
CTO executive recruitment means approaching them directly with a reason to talk.
For a confidential permanent seat, a CTO headhunter runs that search end to end.
3. They test the work, with people who can judge it
Give every candidate the same task from your own business: an architecture decision, a delivery problem, a security incident.
If no one in-house can judge the technical answer, bring in an independent technologist for that stage, and keep the leadership interview separate from it.
4. They check before you see the shortlist
BCS runs a public register of technology professionals that employers and recruiters can search; listing is optional, so absence proves nothing.
Past directorships and disqualified directors sit on the Companies House register.
For an employed hire, you must check the right to work before the start date.
How we run a brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
04/ the maths
What the seat costs, by the days a week
Move the day rate, the days a week and the months: the totals and the permanent comparison for the period. The curve above shows where a permanent hire becomes the cheaper seat.
The slider runs across the published band for a fractional CTO: £1,000–£1,600 a day (Leadership Services 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£135,200
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£97,525
Fractional CTO, 12 months£135,200
Fractional CTO, a month at 2 d/wk£11,258
Permanent CTO, same period£232,725
Fractional CTO, 12 months$179,126
Fractional CTO, a month at 2 d/wk$14,916
Permanent CTO, same period$308,337
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional CTO, 12 months€158,806
Fractional CTO, a month at 2 d/wk€13,224
Permanent CTO, same period€273,359
Converted from £ at €1.1746 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a EU market rate. Source ↗
Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £160,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.
05/ the week
How a week divides.
The days you buy are yours; the rest of the week goes to other clients. Move the days a week in the calculator above and the week redraws.
Illustration only: one way a fractional CTO’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
06/ the board
What the board holds.
A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.
On this board, last 90 days · 1 role · technology leadership
Engagement
- Fractional1
Days a week
- Stated in the posting1
- Not stated0
Day rate
- Verified rate0
- Estimated (est)1
- Rate not stated0
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
- Remote1
- Hybrid0
- On-site0
Newest posting on the board: 27 Sept 2026.
07/ comparison
Permanent, interim or fractional: what the recruiter does
The route changes the recruiter’s job, what the shortlist must show, and who carries the IR35 decision.
08/ vetting
How we vet CTOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CTO 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
09/ cto recruitment agency
CTO recruitment agency: how to judge one
A CTO recruitment agency should be able to tell you, before the search starts, who runs the brief day to day, how candidates are found, who assesses the technical work, which checks it makes itself, and what you will pay, in writing.
We do not publish a ranking; a CTO recruitment agencies comparison is only as good as those answers.
Ask them of any CTO recruitment company, of agencies that call themselves CTO recruitment specialists, and of us.
The law gives you a baseline.
GOV.UK’s Conduct Regulations guide says agencies may not charge candidates for finding them work, that the Act does not regulate what they charge you, the hirer, and that executive search consultants are covered too.
The Fair Work Agency is now the state regulator for agencies in England, Scotland and Wales.
Some duties stay with you.
GOV.UK warns employers they might be breaking the law if discrimination happens in recruitment, even when an agency runs it.
The ICO’s recruitment and selection guidance is written for employers and for recruitment agencies and head-hunters alike, so ask how candidate data is held and deleted.
The same questions apply to a chief technology officer recruitment agency, to CTO recruitment agencies that also fill engineering roles below the seat, and to firms selling CTO recruitment services alongside consulting.
10/ chief technology officer recruitment
Chief technology officer recruitment for permanent, fractional and interim seats
Chief technology officer recruitment for a permanent seat ends in an employment contract.
Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a CTO in the UK at £120,000 to £201,500, with a median of £160,500, before bonus and equity.
A CTO recruiter should agree the band with you before the first approach.
A search for “CTO recruitment London” finds the same process.
What changes in the capital is the pool and the competition for it, so say in the brief whether the seat is in the office, hybrid or remote; a remote or hybrid seat widens the search beyond the city.
For a fractional CTO (agreed days a week) or an interim CTO (full-time for a fixed term, often a rebuild or technology due diligence), the candidate often works through their own company.
See fractional CTO cost for the day-rate arithmetic, browse part-time CTO jobs, or hire a fractional CTO directly.
When the person works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.
Status turns on how the engagement runs, contract by contract; a medium or large client makes the determination, and for a small client outside the public sector the worker’s company decides.
CTO recruiters should set out each candidate’s position.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
11/ questions
CTO recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a CTO.
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.
