Finance director recruitment · Finance director headhunter · London
Finance director recruitment: how to hire a finance director
Finance director recruitment starts with scope: whether you need someone to run the finance function and report to the board, a financial controller to own the numbers, or a CFO to lead strategy and funding.
To hire a finance director, fix that first, then test candidates on real finance problems and check qualifications and references.
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary finance leaders.
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
FM Magazine (AICPA & CIMA) How to make the fractional CFO-client relationship effective · 20 May 2026
If the business does not yet need a full-time finance director, a fractional CFO can cover the seat. FM Magazine sets out how to make that engagement work: scope, access to people and data, and regular communication.
International Finance Renting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived · 17 Sep 2026
Argues that fractional leadership has moved from a startup stopgap into the mid-market, with finance among the functions leading the shift. Worth weighing before you commit to a permanent search.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a finance director
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Finance Director 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
Finance director jobs on the board
Live finance leadership roles
Fractional recruitment works differently from a permanent search — shorter, scoped by days a week, and priced on the engagement. Send a Finance Director brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
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 3.9 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 £109,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
- The fractional finance director at 2 days a week never passes permanent inside 24 months.
Our arithmetic, cumulative. Permanent = the salary’s 30% search fee in month 0, then salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI each month. No published interim band for this seat, so no interim line. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each month.
02/ the route
Fractional, interim or permanent?
Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.
The route · Fractional
A fractional finance director.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional finance director holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.
The route · Interim
An interim finance director.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim finance director takes the seat full time for that stretch and hands it over when it is done.
The route · Interim, then permanent
Interim now, a permanent finance director after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim finance director holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent finance director.A full-time seat that sits at the table for years is a permanent hire.
There is time to run a search, so run one.
03/ the role
What a finance director does, and when you need one
A finance director runs the finance function and turns the numbers into decisions.
Robert Half’s finance director profile lists the day-to-day work: managing cash flow, preparing the monthly management accounts, overseeing reporting, forecasting and budgeting, supporting tax, audit and risk, managing relationships with banks and auditors, and running processes, controls and finance systems.
The finance director is the link between the finance team and the CEO or CFO.
When a company needs a finance director
The usual triggers: the founder or an external accountant can no longer keep up with reporting; a bank, investor or acquirer wants a senior finance counterpart; the business is raising money, buying a company or preparing for sale; or the board wants forecasts it can rely on.
If the gap is controls and month-end rather than leadership, a financial controller may be the better hire.
Board duties
If the finance director joins the board, the duties of a company director under the Companies Act 2006 come with the seat.
The company must keep adequate accounting records that show and explain its transactions and disclose its financial position with reasonable accuracy at any time; in practice the finance director makes that happen.
In a company listed in the commercial companies category, the UK Corporate Governance Code now asks boards to declare whether their material internal controls are effective (Provision 29).
In an FCA-regulated firm, senior management functions need FCA or PRA approval before the person starts.
04/ scope
How to hire a finance director
1. Scope the seat before the search
Write down what the finance director will own (reporting, cash, controls, systems, the audit, lender relationships), who they report to, whether they join the board, and what the finance function should look like in two years.
A first finance director for a growing business and a group finance director for a company with several entities are different hires.
2. Choose the route: permanent, interim or fractional
A permanent finance director suits a business that needs a senior finance owner every day.
If the seat is empty or a project needs full-time cover for a fixed term, hire an interim finance director.
If you need senior finance judgement for part of the week, hire a fractional finance director.
If the job is strategy, funding and investors at executive-committee level, look at the CFO seat: hire a CFO.
3. Check the qualification and test the work
Robert Half says finance directors should be qualified accountants (ACA, ACCA or CIMA).
The ICAEW’s ACA is its chartered accountant qualification; the ACCA qualification combines exams, ethics and professional experience; and CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification is built around management accounting, financial reporting and financial strategy.
Confirm membership with the body itself.
Then test the work: ask candidates to read a real set of management accounts and a cash forecast from your business, and take references from a CEO and an auditor or lender who worked with them.
4. Run the checks before the offer
For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start.
Check past directorships on the Companies House register, and in a regulated firm build regulator approval into the timetable.
What we do on a finance director brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
05/ 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 finance director: £600–£1,000 a day (FD Capital 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£83,200
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£75,575
Fractional finance director, 12 months£83,200
Fractional finance director, a month at 2 d/wk£6,928
Permanent finance director, same period£158,775
Fractional finance director, 12 months$110,232
Fractional finance director, a month at 2 d/wk$9,179
Permanent finance director, same period$210,361
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional finance director, 12 months€97,727
Fractional finance director, a month at 2 d/wk€8,138
Permanent finance director, same period€186,497
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 £109,500 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.
06/ 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 finance director’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
07/ 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 · Finance director
Engagement
- Interim1
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)
- Remote0
- Hybrid0
- On-site1
Newest posting on the board: 12 Sept 2026.
08/ comparison
Finance director vs financial controller vs CFO
Three finance seats that overlap. Choose by what the person will own and who they answer to.
09/ vetting
How we vet finance directors
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Finance Director 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
10/ finance director recruitment london
Finance director recruitment in London: what changes
Finance director recruitment in London follows the same steps, with higher pay and more candidates from financial services.
Robert Half’s 2026 figures for a finance director in London run from £122,000 to £187,750, median £149,000.
That compares with a UK median of £109,500 in the same guide.
Set the pay band before the search, and say in the brief whether the role is in the office, hybrid or remote.
A London role open to hybrid working can draw candidates from outside the city, and a finance director in a regulated firm will need regulator approval before starting.
For London roles that need only part of the week, see part-time finance director roles.
11/ finance director headhunter
Finance director headhunter: what to check before you sign
A finance director headhunter finds and approaches finance leaders, including people who are not looking, and brings you a shortlist.
The same law covers them as any recruitment agency: GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations says the Employment Agencies Act applies to executive search consultants, that agencies may not charge workers for finding them work, and that the Act does not regulate what agencies charge you, the hirer.
Before you sign, get the terms in writing: what you pay, when it falls due, and what happens if the appointment does not work out.
Ask who runs the search day to day, how candidates are assessed, and whether the firm will check qualifications with ICAEW, ACCA or CIMA and take references itself.
What we undertake: a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and five-stage vetting.
If the finance director will work through their own company, as an interim or fractional FD often does, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.
A medium or large client decides the worker’s status; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides.
Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
12/ pay
What you will pay: Robert Half’s 2026 figures
Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a UK finance director at £89,750 to £138,000, median £109,500.
A group finance director, running finance across several entities, sits higher: £106,750 to £162,500, median £131,500.
In London the range is £122,000 to £187,750, median £149,000 (Robert Half).
A CFO is paid more again: Robert Half gives a UK CFO range of £132,500 to £220,500, median £176,500.
These are base salaries; bonus, pension and equity are agreed separately.
Every figure, with its source, is on our finance director salary page.
For part-time and fractional pay, see fractional finance director salary.
On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.
13/ questions
Finance director recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a finance director.
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.
