Hire a Fractional CEO · Fractional CEO Jobs UK
Browse fractional CEO jobs and part-week chief executive roles below, with day rate and working pattern where the advertiser states them.
Boards can hire a fractional CEO through a separate employer brief.
Part 01 / 04
Purpose
Part 02 / 04
Authority
Part 03 / 04
Evidence
Part 04 / 04
Succession
In the press
Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Sixteen leaders in Fast Company disagree on when a fractional C-suite hire makes sense: most back it for a defined mandate, some want full-time ownership where the role needs daily presence. Read it before deciding between a fractional and an interim CEO.
Financial Times The executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance (paywall)
The FT on senior people who now lead inside several companies at once, the portfolio shape most fractional CEOs work in.
15 minutes · video or phone
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with fractional CEO candidates, their day rates and availability.
Pick a day that suits · live availability
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a brief and a shortlist of three to five.
Fractional CEO jobs · last 3 months
No Fractional CEO roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional C-suite roles instead.
CivSec Group · London
KeelCFO · England
Amitours · United Kingdom
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
01/ the cross
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 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 = £120,000, the bottom of the Exec Capital 2026 (UK SME) salary band. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
Our arithmetic, cumulative. Permanent = the salary’s 30% search fee in month 0, then salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI each month. Interim = the midpoint of the published interim band (£1,400 a day, Exec Capital 2026) × 5 days × 4.33 weeks. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each month.
02/ the route
Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.
The route · Fractional
A fractional CEO.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional CEO 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 CEO.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim CEO 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 CEO after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim CEO holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent CEO.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 board
A read of the roles on the board above, 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 · 4 roles · fractional C-suite
Engagement
Seat
Days a week
Day rate
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
Newest posting on the board: 9 Oct 2026.
Postings per week on this board, last 90 days
4 postings on this board in the last 90 days, counted by the week each was published.
04/ definition
A fractional CEO is a part-time chief executive who runs the company within a defined scope — not a caretaker, not an advisor.
Fractional CEO jobs are those roles: the seat, 1–3 days a week.
Four ideas define the model.
01 · cadence
Senior, proven CEO capability across a defined slice of the week, without a full-time salary. FD Capital puts two to three days a week as the most common fractional CEO engagement.
02 · role
Owns strategy, runs the board, leads the team and allocates capital. A chair or NED governs from outside the seat; a fractional CEO is personally in it.
03 · structure
Usually engaged through their own company rather than employed, on a scope that names the outcome, the days and the notice. IR35 status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination.
04 · horizon
Scoped to an outcome — a transition, a turnaround, a value-creation plan — often ending in a clean handover to a permanent CEO. The company defines the outcome; the CEO decides how to achieve it.
05/ one seat, four ways to fill it
A fractional CEO is the same seat — the strategy, the board, the team, the capital allocation — hired by the day instead of by the year.
Boards searching for a CEO for hire usually mean one of these four, and the difference that matters most is who is personally in the seat.
PART-TIME · IN THE SEAT
One named chief executive, 1–3 days a week, ongoing, accountable for the outcome. FD Capital publishes £800–£1,500 a day.
FULL-TIME · FIXED TERM
The seat full-time for a fixed term — a departure, a turnaround, a sale. FD Capital quotes £1,200–£2,500 a day full-time. See hire an interim CEO.
GOVERNS · ADVISES
Leads or sits on the board, holds the executive to account and advises. Not in the seat: the chief executive runs the company.
FIVE DAYS · OPEN-ENDED
The permanent appointment. Exec Capital puts SME CEO base at £120,000–£250,000 and mid-market at £200,000–£400,000, before on-costs.
A mandate, not a tenure.
If the company needs its chief executive five days a week for the foreseeable future, it is a permanent hire; if it needs one for a fixed stretch, interim; if it needs one for part of the week, fractional.
This is our reading of how the terms are used in the UK market, not a published definition.
06/ scope
They run the leadership cadence, compressed into their contracted days.
What a fractional CEO owns, and what the leadership team and advisers carry.
07/ rates
Published figures only, each with its source.
FD Capital publishes a single UK band for fractional and part-time CEOs and no median; Exec Capital prices two days a week slightly lower.
No source publishes regional CEO day rates, so none are shown.
Published UK day-rate bands · £ a day · the marker is the calculator’s day rate
The permanent band is the published salary ÷ 220 working days — our arithmetic, for comparison only.
Two days a week across a 46-week year at FD Capital’s band is £73,600–£138,000 in day fees — our arithmetic (92 days × £800–£1,500). FD Capital puts a part-time CEO at two days a week at typically 20–40% of the cost of a full-time permanent CEO at an equivalent level (FD Capital).
08/ the maths
Model what a part-time chief executive costs against a full-time CEO — or, switched to “I’m a CEO”, what one fractional mandate bills in a year.
The slider runs across the published band for a fractional CEO: £800–£1,500 a day (FD Capital 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£119,600
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£54,400
Fractional CEO, 12 months£119,600
Fractional CEO, a month at 2 d/wk£9,959
Permanent CEO, same period£174,000
Fractional CEO, 12 months$158,458
Fractional CEO, a month at 2 d/wk$13,195
Permanent CEO, same period$230,533
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional CEO, 12 months€140,482
Fractional CEO, a month at 2 d/wk€11,698
Permanent CEO, same period€204,380
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 = £120,000, the bottom of the Exec Capital 2026 (UK SME) salary band 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.
09/ the week
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 CEO’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
10/ tax
The general position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point.
Not tax advice: check your own case with your accountant.
01 · DEDUCTIBLE
A fractional CEO’s fees, like a salary, are deductible against profits when incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade (HMRC BIM37000). At the 25% main rate, each £1,000 of fees costs a profitable company £750 after relief.
02 · EMPLOYER NI
A permanent CEO carries employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year. A fractional CEO engaged through their own company carries none when the engagement is outside IR35; inside IR35, the fee-payer deducts tax and NI and pays employer NI. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice.
03 · WHO DECIDES
Medium and large clients determine the status themselves; for a small private-sector client, the fractional CEO’s own company decides (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
11/ comparison
How the fractional model compares with an interim CEO, an executive chair or NED, an advisor and a full-time appointment.
Read the “in the seat” row first — it decides the others.
On the division of responsibilities between a chair and a chief executive: FRC, UK Corporate Governance Code.
→ Interim runs the whole company full-time for a period; fractional supplies the same seat part-time, often alongside a founder. For full-time cover, hire an interim CEO.
→ A chair holds the chief executive to account; a fractional CEO is the chief executive. An executive chair can bridge a gap, but combining oversight and execution weakens governance.
→ An advisor tells the founder what they would do; a fractional CEO does it.
→ FD Capital puts a part-time CEO at two days a week at typically 20–40% of the cost of a full-time permanent CEO at an equivalent level — the saving narrows as days rise.
12/ the choice
A fractional CEO holds the seat for part of every week, on an ongoing basis: the same person, a set number of days, for as long as the business needs that level of leadership.
An interim CEO covers the seat full-time for a fixed term: a vacancy, a transaction or a turnaround, then a handover to a permanent hire.
Ask which problem you have.
If the work is senior but does not fill a week, buy part of the week.
If the work fills every day and has an end date, buy the days in a block.
The calculator above prices the part-week route at your days a week and shows where a permanent hire becomes the cheaper seat.
13/ the contract
A fractional CEO engagement is written around a scope — the outcome, the days a week, the horizon and the notice.
IR35 status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, a medium or large client makes the determination, and a statutory directorship brings office-holder duties — take advice before accepting one.
Consult a tax adviser · gov.uk/CEST · off-payroll rules: HMRC IR35 guidance.
01 / CONTROL
HMRC looks at who decides how, when and where the work is done — whether the company sets the outcome or directs the method.
✓ In the contract02 / SUBSTITUTION
HMRC looks at whether the CEO could send a suitably qualified substitute, and whether that right is genuine in practice.
✓ In the contract03 / MUTUALITY
HMRC looks at whether the company must offer work beyond the agreed scope, and whether the CEO must accept it.
✓ In the contract14/ hiring
Four situations where a fractional chief executive is often the right answer.
Each is a scope question, not a status question — the seat is filled for the outcome that needs it.
Which sounds like you?
The founder moves to chair or into a product role but still owns significant equity. A fractional CEO leads the company without threatening their influence.
Post-Series A or B, the board and investors need CEO-level leadership, but a full-time chief executive package is not yet justifiable.
One fractional CEO leads more than one portfolio company, implementing the value-creation plan across each.
Senior intervention while the permanent CEO search runs in parallel.
15/ the buyer’s guide
Scope the mandate.
Define the outcome — a transition, a turnaround, a value-creation plan — the days a week the seat needs, and the horizon.
A fractional CEO briefed against “what must be true when you leave” is easier to hire and to measure.
Bring the brief.
Stage, sector, board context and budget band, set against the published figures above.
The brief is read by a person, not parsed by an intake form.
Take the shortlist.
3–5 candidates, each with day rate, availability, stage fit and IR35 position set out.
You interview, and we run a mandate rehearsal with the finalists: first 90 days, cadence, capital allocation.
Agree the contract.
Scope, days a week and notice in writing, with the IR35 position set out — the client makes the status determination on how the engagement will run — and statutory-officer questions taken to a tax adviser.
A part-time CEO at two days a week runs £6,400–£13,000 a month on FD Capital’s figures — typically 20–40% of the cost of a full-time permanent CEO at an equivalent level (FD Capital, Part-Time CEO Costs UK 2026).
Exec Capital puts two days a week at £5,000–£10,000 a month (Exec Capital).
Model your own days in the calculator above.
A permanent CEO hire usually runs through a retained search.
UK retained search fees run 25–35% of approximate first-year base salary, with £30,000–£40,000 minimum fees common at established firms (Headhunters.co.uk, March 2026); Executive Recruit puts CEO searches at 30–33% (Executive Recruit, June 2026).
We recruit fractional, interim and permanent CEOs: a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out.
Many boards bring in a fractional or interim CEO first and use them to write the permanent brief.
To compare the search firms that also run permanent CEO recruitment, see executive search firms; for how we run ours, see our fractional recruitment agency.
16/ the terms
Five things to settle before a fractional CEO starts, so the days you buy go on the work.
01
Write down what has to be true at three, six and twelve months. Days a week follow from that list, not the other way round.
02
Fix the days a week, which days, and a review point where either side can change them. Most of the value is in the rhythm.
03
Put in writing what the role can see, sign and decide: systems, data, budget and the board. A part-week leader without access is an adviser.
04
Agree notice on both sides and the handover: documents, logins and who inherits each piece of work.
05
Settle how the engagement will run before it starts, because IR35 status follows the working practice. See the IR35 guide.
17/ the broad hire
Many boards that set out to hire a CEO have not yet settled what shape of chief executive the company needs.
There are four.
A permanent CEO is an employee, full-time, answerable to the board for the whole business with no end date.
An interim CEO is full-time for a fixed term — after a sudden departure, through a sale, or while the permanent search runs.
A fractional CEO leads the company for part of each week on an ongoing mandate, often alongside other roles.
A part-time CEO works reduced hours for one company, and may be employed rather than engaged.
What settles it is how much chief-executive work there is in a week.
Setting strategy, allocating capital, leading the leadership team and answering to investors and the board are the core of the seat — what a CEO does sets it out in full.
If that fills every week, hire a CEO for a continuing appointment, and write the CEO job description before approaching anyone.
If it fills only part of the week — the founder still runs product, or the company is between funding rounds — hire a fractional CEO for a defined part-week mandate; fractional CEO pay shows how the role is paid.
Whichever route you take, the brief to hire a CEO carries the same points: scope, stage, board context, days a week, budget and IR35 position.
Share it with us, we return a shortlist of 3–5, and you interview.
Where the CEO is engaged through their own company, status depends on how the engagement runs in practice rather than on the contract wording — check it with HMRC’s CEST tool and our IR35 guide, and see how we vet each candidate first.
18/ recruitment
Fractional CEO recruitment is a board decision before it is a search.
Agree who has authority to make the appointment, what the CEO may decide without the board, and whether the appointment is executive only or also as a statutory director.
That last choice matters most: a statutory director is registered at Companies House and owes the general duties of a director under the Companies Act 2006 — duties that apply whether or not the director is active in the role (Companies House: being a company director).
A fractional CEO usually holds other mandates, so deal with conflicts at the start.
The Companies Act requires a director to avoid situations in which their interests conflict, or may conflict, with the company’s, and allows the directors of a private company to authorise such a situation where the constitution does not prevent it (Companies Act 2006, duty to avoid conflicts of interest).
Ask each finalist to declare their other roles, and minute the board’s decision.
Paper the directorship and the engagement separately.
The IoD notes that directors are office holders, that HMRC treats payments for the office itself as subject to PAYE, and that other consultancy work should sit on a separate contract (IoD: what is a director?).
Take advice before anyone signs.
Then run the search: a shortlist of 3–5 and the checks in how we vet.
19/ part-time ceo
A part-time CEO can be hired two ways, and the difference is legal, not cosmetic.
Employed part-time, they are an employee on reduced hours, paid through PAYE, and protected as a part-time worker — no less favourable treatment than an equivalent full-timer on pay rates, pension, holidays and training, applied pro rata where appropriate.
Engaged by the day through their own company, they are a fractional CEO: an invoice, a written scope, and IR35 status that depends on how the engagement runs in practice.
Employment suits a single company that wants its chief executive on fixed days, perhaps with a view to going full-time; the fractional route suits an external part-week mandate and an executive who may hold more than one role.
Part-time CEO jobs are advertised both ways, so read the terms, not the title.
For a continuing employed seat, hire a part-time CEO; for the cost, see part-time CEO cost; for full-time, fixed-term cover, hire an interim CEO.
Either way, if the part-time CEO also joins the board, a shorter week does not shorten the duties: they apply to every director (Companies House).
20/ vetting
The CEO-specific checks inside our five-stage vetting process, undertaken on every brief before a candidate reaches your shortlist.
Fractional buyers pay for pattern recognition, not potential.
Directorship history is public record: Companies House.
Companies House directorship history read against the CV: appointments, resignations and the companies behind them.
PUBLIC RECORDVerified CEO or MD tenure with owned P&L. We read the numbers, not the narrative.
TRACK RECORDTwo references from chairs or investors who sat across the table — not colleagues.
REFERENCESA structured session on a scenario like yours: first 90 days, cadence, capital allocation.
DEEP-DIVE3–5 candidates, each with day rate, availability, stage fit and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–521/ titles
In UK SMEs and family-owned businesses the chief executive is usually titled managing director, so the same mandate is advertised as a fractional MD as often as a fractional CEO.
The shape is identical: in the seat, 1–3 days a week, scoped to an outcome, with the IR35 position set out on every brief.
Part-time CEO usually signals consistent days with a single company, while fractional CEO usually signals a portfolio across more than one client.
FD Capital publishes the same £800–£1,500 a day band under both names; the market uses both loosely, so read the mandate, not the label.
What a chief executive earns full-time, and what the fractional and interim alternatives cost, is covered source by source on the fractional CEO salary page.
In a UK private company the two titles often describe the same job: the person who runs the business day to day and answers to the board.
Larger groups tend to keep CEO for the top executive and use managing director for the head of a subsidiary or division.
Neither title is the same thing as being a statutory director, which is an office registered at Companies House whatever the job title — and it brings its own duties, so take advice before a fractional hire accepts one.
22/ guide
The path from permanent to portfolio, in five steps.
A substantial leadership record, including P&L ownership at CEO or MD level. Fractional buyers pay for pattern recognition, not potential.
BEFORE YOU STARTSector plus company stage — “SaaS, Series A–B” beats “growth companies”. Your existing network already knows your record; start there.
WEEK 1Anchor to the published band: £800–£1,500 a day for a fractional or part-time CEO (FD Capital), with interim work higher — £1,000–£3,500 a day on Exec Capital’s figures. Quote a range, hold the floor.
WEEK 1–2Form a limited company, understand what HMRC looks at — control, substitution, mutuality of obligation — and check each engagement against CEST on its own facts; take advice on office-holder edge cases before accepting a directorship.
WEEK 2–4Register with fractional specialists, keep your availability current, and work your network alongside them.
ONGOING
23/ coverage
Fractional CEO roles follow the UK’s scale-up, PE and mid-market hubs, and much of the work is remote or hybrid.
No source publishes regional CEO day rates or a regional split of demand, so none is shown.
Leadership travels better than it used to: board meetings, investor conversations and the weekly executive cadence all survive a hybrid rhythm.
Many mandates settle into remote for the working cadence and in the room for the board meeting, the leadership offsite and the crunch weeks.
That is why remote fractional roles across every function are worth watching alongside the CEO board.
Practical guide · Updated
Executive leadership needs a board mandate that works in practice. Compare authority, continuity and the business decisions behind a fractional, interim or permanent appointment.
The working brief · 01
A board hiring an executive needs a mandate people across the company can understand.
Name the purpose
Write the business problem, the decisions required and the constraints the incoming leader inherits. Distinguish a request for independent advice from responsibility for running the company. State what the founder or board will continue to own.
Set the boundary
Agree which decisions are delegated, which require approval and where competing instructions are resolved. Explain the relationship with the chair and other executives. A senior title cannot compensate for a mandate the board has not agreed.
Choose the evidence
Specify the information the leader and board use to review progress and risk. FRC guidance encourages governance suited to the company’s circumstances; its listed-company Code is not automatically a rule for every business. Use it as a prompt for proportionate discussion.
The working brief · 02
Fictional worked example, not a client case study: a founder seeks leadership cover but still approves every operating decision.
Expose the conflict
In this fictional business, department heads are told to follow an incoming executive but continue asking the founder for permission. The hiring brief first needs to identify which decisions the founder will actually delegate. Adding a title does not resolve conflicting instructions.
Agree the mandate
The board sets the delegated responsibilities, approval boundaries and route for disagreement. The founder and incoming leader communicate the same mandate to the team. Advice retained by the founder is separated from executive decisions owned by the appointment.
Review the arrangement
The board reviews whether the delegation works in practice and records unresolved boundaries. No growth, founder freedom or transformation outcome is promised. The example illustrates an authority problem that should be resolved before expecting a person to run the business.
The working brief · 03
Choose a working pattern that matches the executive decisions the business needs made.
Defined executive commitment
Fractional leadership can suit a bounded executive mandate where other leaders maintain day-to-day continuity. State escalation and availability expectations openly. A limited commitment should not be described as unlimited operating responsibility.
Temporary leadership
Interim leadership can cover a vacancy or a defined transition requiring active command. Specify the authority, the transition decision and the successor’s needs. A temporary engagement still requires clarity about who runs the company throughout it.
Lasting daily ownership
Permanent leadership may suit continuing executive management needing daily attention. A part-time employee is another working arrangement, with its own terms and responsibilities. Separate commitment from employment status instead of using fractional and part-time as interchangeable labels.
The working brief · 04
For applicants: test the board mandate and describe experience at the level actually held.
Describe accountability
Explain the organisation, your executive responsibilities and the decisions you personally owned. Distinguish board membership, advisory influence and operating authority. A portfolio of senior titles is less helpful than a clear account of how responsibility worked.
Explain judgement
Use an approved example of a difficult decision, the evidence available and the competing choices. Identify what the board decided and what you implemented. Keep confidential board material private and separate actual outcomes from ambitions or forecasts.
Question the mandate
Ask what the founder will delegate, how the chair will support the appointment and who resolves disagreement. Confirm commitment, location and the expected exit or continuity. If decision rights remain unsettled, say so before accepting accountability that cannot be exercised.
The working brief · 05
Succession should transfer decisions and relationships, alongside information about the business.
Make the position visible
Transfer the relationships
Confirm the succession
The working brief · 06
The working arrangement should reflect where the executive needs to understand and influence the business.
Distributed leadership
Board discussion and executive reviews can be organised remotely when leaders share clear evidence and decisions. Confirm whom the appointment can reach and who maintains local continuity. Remote working does not remove the need for recognised authority.
Purposeful presence
Identify relationships or operations that require the executive to attend in person. State the purpose, location and expected commitment. A part-time or fractional arrangement should not carry an unstated expectation to appear wherever a stakeholder asks.
Agreement with the board
Record availability, escalation and the person who can act when the leader is away. Align those expectations with the actual working commitment. Revisit them if the board changes the scope or operating responsibility.
The working brief · 07
A leadership appointment requires evidence of candidate judgement and a board willing to explain its mandate.
Share the constraint
Describe a hypothetical business decision and the authority available to the incoming leader. Let candidates question assumptions and ask for missing evidence. The discussion should reveal how they structure a decision rather than request a complete business strategy.
Explore disagreement
Ask how they would handle a founder or board member who gives conflicting instructions to a department. Explore which issue they would resolve directly and which needs the chair. Compare that reasoning with the governance arrangement the board intends to support.
Check mutual understanding
Invite candidates to explain what would make the mandate unworkable. Record decisions the board still needs to settle before appointment. A strong interview should leave both sides understanding the boundaries, not conceal uncertainty behind a senior title.
The working brief · 08
Clarify the relationship between the chair, advisers and the person responsible for running the company.
Describe each contribution
State which people offer challenge and advice and which hold operating responsibility. Explain how the chair and executive leader work together. Do not imply that a non-executive or advisory appointment supplies day-to-day command.
Resolve conflicting instructions
Name the route for settling differences and communicating one accepted decision to the team. Give department leaders a clear escalation point. A board should not ask an executive to carry responsibility while encouraging instructions that bypass the agreed mandate.
Keep the boundary current
Review delegated authority when the business or appointment changes. Record what the board retains and what the leader now owns. Make that updated boundary available to the executive team and successor so continuity does not depend on informal understandings.
24/ questions
The questions people ask about hiring a fractional CEO and about fractional CEO work.
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.
FD Capital publishes £800–£1,500 a day for a fractional or part-time CEO in the UK, and no median.
At two days a week that is £6,400–£13,000 a month — typically 20–40% of the cost of a full-time permanent CEO at an equivalent level, on FD Capital’s figures (FD Capital).
Exec Capital puts two days a week at £5,000–£10,000 a month (Exec Capital).
Use the calculator above for your numbers.
Scope the mandate — the outcome, the days a week and the horizon — then bring the brief.
We come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability, stage fit and IR35 position set out.
You interview and choose.
Take statutory-officer questions to a tax adviser.
Most engagements are 1–3 days a week; FD Capital puts two to three days as the most common (FD Capital).
No. An interim CEO is usually full-time for a fixed period — a bridge or crisis role; FD Capital quotes £1,200–£2,500 a day full-time, and Exec Capital £1,000–£3,500.
A fractional CEO is a sustained part-time engagement, often alongside other clients, scoped to an outcome.
For full-time cover, hire an interim CEO.
Four common triggers: a founder stepping back; a scale-up whose board needs CEO-level leadership before a full-time package is justifiable (Exec Capital puts SME CEO base at £120,000–£250,000); a PE portfolio needing leadership across several companies; and a crisis or turnaround while a permanent search runs.
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.
No source publishes a typical length, so we will not quote one.
A fractional CEO mandate is scoped to an outcome — a transition, a turnaround or a value-creation plan — and runs until it is delivered, often ending with a clean handover to a permanent CEO.
It depends on how each engagement runs in practice — HMRC looks at control, substitution and mutuality of obligation, and each engagement can be checked against HMRC’s CEST tool on its own facts.
A medium or large client makes the determination, and a statutory directorship brings office-holder duties — take advice before accepting one.
Usually, yes.
“CEO for hire” is how many boards and founders search for a chief executive engaged through their own company rather than employed.
What matters is cadence: one to three days a week, ongoing, is fractional; five days for a fixed term is interim; board-only oversight is a chair or NED.
In a UK private company the titles often describe the same job: the person who runs the business day to day and answers to the board.
Larger groups tend to keep CEO for the top executive and use managing director for the head of a subsidiary or division.
For a fractional hire, read the mandate, not the label — we run a fractional MD search the same way as a fractional CEO search.
Yes.
We recruit fractional, interim and permanent CEOs: a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
Many permanent CEO hires go through a retained search instead: UK retained search fees run 25–35% of approximate first-year base salary (Headhunters.co.uk), and Executive Recruit puts CEO searches at 30–33%.
Many boards bring in a fractional or interim CEO first and use them to shape the permanent brief.
Three board decisions before the search: who can appoint, what the CEO may decide alone, and whether the appointment includes a statutory directorship — which brings the general duties of a director (Companies House) and a duty to avoid conflicts with the CEO’s other mandates unless the board authorises them (Companies Act 2006).
Then the search itself: a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
The recruitment section sets it out.
No source publishes fractional CEO earnings.
At FD Capital’s £800–£1,500 a day, two days a week across 46 working weeks is £73,600–£138,000 from one client — our arithmetic; a second client at the same cadence doubles it.
Exec Capital puts two days a week at £5,000–£10,000 a month.
The calculator above models it; check your own IR35 and tax position with an accountant.
Build a senior track record, including P&L ownership at CEO or MD level; define a niche and stage; set a day-rate band against the published one (£800–£1,500 a day, FD Capital); form a limited company to contract through; and register with fractional specialists while you work your network.
The five steps above set it out.
Sometimes.
Many mandates are day-rate only; growth-stage companies sometimes add a small option grant vesting over the engagement.
No source publishes typical fractional CEO equity terms, so we quote no percentage.
Equity in place of cash is unusual at CEO level — take tax advice on how any grant is made to you through your own company.
Across the UK’s scale-up, PE and mid-market hubs — London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds — and many roles are remote or hybrid; each card on the board gives the location the posting states.
No source publishes a regional split, so we do not rank cities.
Yes, if you want fractional, interim or part-time work.
The board above carries CEO jobs and CEO vacancies from our jobs feed across the UK, with the location and, where the posting states one, the day rate.
It is built for fractional and interim roles rather than permanent CEO jobs.
See also interim CEO jobs.
The same model runs across the C-suite: CFO, COO, CTO, CMO and CHRO.
The fractional jobs UK board carries every fractional role and fractional executive job across functions, and fractional executive services explains how the model works seat by seat.
No. Browsing the board and applying is free.
Yes.
A part-time CEO can be an employee on reduced hours, paid through PAYE and protected as a part-time worker, or a fractional CEO engaged through their own company, where IR35 status depends on how the engagement runs in practice.
Part-time CEO jobs are advertised both ways — read the terms, not the title.
If the role includes a directorship, the director’s duties apply in full either way.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
A shortlist of 3–5. Five-stage vetting. IR35 position on every brief.
Book a call or submit a CEO brief; we come back with a shortlist of 3–5 candidates.
Browse the fractional and interim CEO roles from our jobs feed, or get in touch about the searches we run.
