Fractional CEO jobs UK — live roles, rates & how to hire.
Fractional CEO jobs are part-time chief executive roles — 1–3 days a week, £800–£2,000 a day, outside IR35. Browse live UK mandates below, graded on rate, fit and IR35 — or bring a brief and get a vetted shortlist in 48 hours.
Updated Wed Jul 08 · every role carries Google JobPosting structured data
Live fractional CEO jobs, updated daily.
Real vacancies, honestly sourced. Exclusive roles you apply for through us; syndicated roles live elsewhere that we surface and analyse; fractional-curious roles not advertised as fractional but structurable.
Part-time CEO / Flexible Managing Director
Fractional Quest · Remote, UK
Advisory CEO / Non-Executive Managing Director
Fractional Quest · Remote, UK
Interim CEO (SMF1)
Wealth management firm (confidential) · London
Managing Director, Fashion
Consumer fashion brand (confidential) · London
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Fractional CEO day rates — and what you could earn.
UK median around £1,150–£1,200 a day, typically 2 days a week. Rates by region below are directional bands from live and recent mandates; unverified figures are flagged.
| Region | Typical band | Status |
|---|---|---|
| London | £1,200–£2,000 | ESTIMATE |
| Manchester | £900–£1,500 | ESTIMATE |
| Edinburgh | £900–£1,400 | ESTIMATE |
| Birmingham | £850–£1,400 | ESTIMATE |
| Bristol | £900–£1,400 | ESTIMATE |
| Leeds | £850–£1,350 | ESTIMATE |
| Remote · UK-wide | £800–£1,500 | VERIFIED |
UK-wide band verified (FD Capital 2026); regional bands are estimates pending a larger mandate sample. Wider market context: interim CEO briefs are quoted at £1,200–£2,500/day at the top of the market (FD Capital 2026).
Your £1,150/day sits near the 50th percentile for UK fractional CEOs (£800–£1,500 band).
For a hiring company, the same mandate costs well under the ~£345K loaded cost of a full-time CEO (base + employer NI, benefits and recruitment — indicative).
What are fractional CEO jobs?
Part-time chief executive roles where you run the company within a defined scope — not a caretaker, not an advisor. Four ideas define the model.
Part-time
Senior, proven CEO capability across a defined slice of the week — 1–3 days, without a full-time salary.
In the seat
Runs the company — owns strategy, runs the board, leads the team. Not a caretaker, not an advisor.
Outside IR35
Built outside IR35 by default: right of substitution, no mutuality of obligation, contractor-controlled working.
Time-bound
Scoped to an outcome over 12–24 months, often with a clean handover to a permanent CEO.
A mandate, not a tenure.
Scoped to an outcome — a transition, a turnaround, a value-creation plan — typically 12–24 months, often with a clean handover to a permanent CEO. The company defines the outcome; the CEO decides how to achieve it.
Fractional CEO vs the alternatives.
How the fractional model compares to interim, executive chair, advisor and a full-time appointment.
| Dimension | Fractional CEO | Interim CEO | Chair / NED | Full-time CEO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time commitment | 1–3 days/week, sustained | Full-time, fixed period | 1–2 days/month | 5 days/week, open-ended |
| In the seat? | Yes — runs the company | Yes — runs the company | No — governs and advises | Yes |
| Cost basis | Day rate, £800–£2,000 | Day rate, premium | Retainer or fees | ~£345K loaded package |
| IR35 position | Outside by default | Often inside | Office-holder rules | Employee |
| Best for | Scale-ups, founder transitions, PE portfolios | Crisis, M&A, sudden gap | Governance and oversight | £50M+ sustained scale |
Outside IR35 by default.
All fractional CEO engagements are structured outside IR35 from day one. Three tests, contract-tested against CEST.
Control of the "how"
Fractional CEOs set their own working methods, hours and location. The company defines the outcome; the CEO decides how to achieve it.
CEST-TESTEDRight of substitution
The contract includes an explicit right to provide a suitably qualified substitute. Rarely exercised, legally present.
CEST-TESTEDNo mutuality of obligation
The company isn’t obliged to offer work beyond the agreed scope; the CEO can decline additional work.
CEST-TESTEDStatus is decided on the facts of each engagement. Consult a tax adviser · gov.uk/CEST
When to hire a fractional CEO.
Four situations where a fractional chief executive is often the right answer.
Professional leadership, founder keeps equity
The founder moves to Chair or CPO but still owns significant equity. A fractional CEO leads without threatening their influence.
Post-Series A/B, pre-£50M
The board and investors need CEO-level leadership, but a £300K+ full-time package isn’t justifiable yet.
One CEO, 2–3 companies
A fractional CEO runs several portfolio companies, implementing the value-creation plan across each.
Stabilise now, search later
Immediate senior intervention while the permanent CEO search — which takes months — runs in parallel.
How to become a fractional CEO in the UK.
Most fractional CEOs arrive after 10+ years of leadership, including P&L ownership at CEO or MD level. The path from permanent to portfolio, in five steps.
Bank the track record.
10+ years of leadership including P&L ownership at CEO or MD level. Fractional buyers pay for pattern recognition, not potential.
Define the niche and stage.
Sector plus company stage — "SaaS, Series A–B" beats "growth companies". Your first two mandates will come from your existing network.
Set the rate band.
Anchor to the UK band: £800–£1,500/day mid-market, £1,200–£2,000 in London and PE contexts. Quote a range, hold the floor.
Structure for outside IR35.
Form a limited company, get a CEST-tested contract template with substitution and no-MOO clauses, and take advice on office-holder edge cases.
Get on the boards that matter.
Register with fractional-specialist platforms, set your availability once, and let graded mandates come to you while you work your network.
Where the UK's fractional CEO jobs actually are.
London leads demand; Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds follow — and a large share of mandates are remote or hybrid.
London
£1,200–£2,000/dayDeepest market — fintech, PE portfolios, regulated firms.
Manchester
£900–£1,500/dayFast-growing scale-up scene; strong e-commerce and B2B SaaS.
Edinburgh
£900–£1,400/dayFintech and asset management; growing deep-tech cluster.
Birmingham
£850–£1,400/dayManufacturing, logistics and family-owned mid-market.
Bristol
£900–£1,400/dayAerospace, robotics and creative-sector scale-ups.
Leeds
£850–£1,350/dayHealth-tech and financial services back-office HQs.
Cambridge & Oxford
£1,000–£1,600/dayDeep tech and life-science spinouts needing commercial CEOs.
Remote · UK-wide
£800–£1,500/dayThe largest single segment — most mandates are hybrid or remote.
How we vet fractional CEOs.
Every candidate clears the same four-stage read before their profile reaches a shortlist.
P&L read
Verified CEO or MD tenure with owned P&L. We read the numbers, not the narrative.
Board-level references
Two references from chairs or investors who sat across the table — not colleagues.
Mandate rehearsal
A structured session on a real anonymised brief: first 90 days, cadence, capital allocation.
Grading
Rate percentile, stage fit and IR35 posture attached to every profile before it reaches a shortlist.
Reviewed by [NAMED REVIEWER — add founder bio, credentials and photo]. Competing pages lead with a named, credentialed expert; this slot ships empty until a real byline exists rather than inventing one.
[CASE STUDIES — add 2–3 real placements with named clients and outcomes.] Until then, nothing is claimed here. Honest collapse beats placeholder fill.
Fractional CEO questions, answered.
Twelve questions people actually ask Google about fractional CEO jobs — each answer also ships as FAQPage structured data.
A fractional CEO is a chief executive who runs a company part-time — typically 1–3 days a week — within a defined scope. Unlike an advisor or chair, they own strategy, run the board and make the decisions.
UK fractional CEO day rates typically run £800–£2,000, with a median around £1,150–£1,200. A 2-day-a-week mandate costs roughly £120K–£215K a year, versus around £345K loaded for a full-time CEO.
At the UK median of about £1,150 a day, a portfolio of 2 clients at 2 days a week each across 46 working weeks earns roughly £210K a year. Rates rise with sector, stage and PE backing.
Most engagements are 1–3 days per week, with 2 days the most common for SMEs and scale-ups. Many fractional CEOs run 2–3 clients in parallel.
No. An interim CEO is usually full-time for a fixed period — a bridge or crisis role. A fractional CEO is a sustained part-time engagement, often alongside other clients, scoped to an outcome over 12–24 months.
They can be, and well-structured ones are by default: right of substitution, no mutuality of obligation, and contractor-controlled working. Each engagement should be CEST-tested on its own facts.
Build a senior track record (typically 10+ years, including P&L ownership at CEO or MD level), define a niche and stage, set a day-rate band, form a limited company for outside-IR35 contracting, and register with fractional-specialist platforms and networks.
They run the leadership cadence: board meetings, executive team management, strategy and capital allocation, investor relations, and the key hires — compressed into their contracted days.
Four common triggers: a founder stepping back, a scale-up that can’t yet justify a £300K+ package, a PE portfolio needing leadership across several companies, and a crisis or turnaround while a permanent search runs.
Sometimes. Many mandates are day-rate only; growth-stage companies often add a small option grant (commonly 0.25%–1%) vesting over the engagement. Equity in place of cash is rare at CEO level.
Typically 12–24 months, scoped to an outcome — a transition, a turnaround or a value-creation plan — often ending with a clean handover to a permanent CEO.
London leads demand, followed by Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds. A large share of mandates are remote or hybrid, so many roles are location-flexible.
Bring the brief. We architect the team.
Partner-read in 48 hours. Success-fee model. Replacement guarantee. IR35 position on every brief.