Fractional chief of staff jobs · The CEO’s right hand, set days a week
Fractional chief of staff jobs · hire a fractional chief of staff
Fractional chief of staff jobs put one senior operator beside the CEO on agreed days each week.
They run the leadership rhythm, carry the priorities across teams and follow every decision through.
To hire a fractional chief of staff, write down what the CEO stops doing on the days the seat is filled.
If you want the seat full-time, see how to hire a chief of staff for good.
On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out.
Looking for work?
Chief of staff roles are on the board below.
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
Leaders in the piece split on when a fractional executive works: many back it for a defined mandate, others want a full-time owner for work that needs one daily. That is the test for buying the chief of staff seat for set days.
Financial Times The executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance (paywall)
The article is about senior people who choose to sit at leadership level in several companies at once. That is the candidate on the other side of a fractional chief of staff job.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional chief of staff
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with chief of staff 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
Chief of staff roles · last 3 months
Fractional chief of staff jobs on the board
No Fractional chief of staff roles on the board in the last three months. Showing operations leadership roles instead.
- FractionalSyndicatedFractional COO / Operations Director
genesis labels & packaging · Leeds
est £750/day2 d/wk - FractionalExclusiveFractional COO
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate not statedLondon - InterimExclusiveInterim Chief Operating Officer
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate not stated5 d/wk
On the board chief of staff and operations roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a chief of staff brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
What does a fractional chief of staff do? the days, the rhythm, the first 90 days
A fractional chief of staff works for the CEO on a fixed number of days a week.
They run the leadership meeting, the board pack and the priorities, and they make sure each decision has an owner and a date.
The seat itself, and how it differs from an adviser or a deputy, is set out on fractional chief of staff.
This page is about the jobs and the hire.
How many days a week
Size the days by the fixed calls.
Count the leadership meeting, the one-to-one with the CEO, board preparation and the projects the seat will carry.
Agree the days before the start and write them into the engagement.
If the sum comes to most of a week, the seat is not fractional.
Who it works with
The CEO first, then the leadership team.
A chief of staff usually has no large team of their own; they get things done through the people who report to the CEO.
Where an executive assistant runs the diary and inbox, the two work as a pair.
Where a fractional COO owns operations, the chief of staff does not duplicate it.
The first 90 days
Days 1 to 30: sit in every leadership meeting, read the board papers and list the decisions that stalled.
Days 31 to 60: set one priority list and one weekly review.
Days 61 to 90: hand the running of that review to the team, so it holds on the days the seat is empty.
02/ scope
How to hire a fractional chief of staff
1. Write what the CEO hands over
List the meetings, papers and projects the chief of staff will own.
A brief that only says “support the CEO” attracts assistants, not operators.
2. Check it is not another seat
If the work is diary, travel and correspondence, you need a fractional EA.
If the work is running operations with a team reporting in, look at fractional COO jobs, or hire a COO.
3. Test for judgement and discretion
Ask how they ran a leadership rhythm for another CEO and what they did when two executives disagreed.
Take a reference from a leader who worked alongside them.
The seat sees board papers and people data, so ask how they keep it secure.
The ICO’s guide to data security sets out what UK GDPR expects.
4. Agree the end point
Decide what would make the seat full-time, such as a fundraise or a second site.
Write it down at the start.
What we do on each brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.
03/ comparison
Fractional chief of staff vs fractional COO vs fractional EA
Three part-time seats near the CEO. Choose by what the seat owns, not by the title.
04/ vetting
How we vet fractional chiefs of staff
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify chief of staff 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
05/ fractional chief of staff jobs
Fractional chief of staff jobs: who buys the seat part of the week
Fractional chief of staff jobs come from founders and CEOs whose leadership team has grown faster than its habits.
The CEO needs someone to run the rhythm, but not five days a week.
Scale-ups before or after a fundraise buy the seat this way.
So do established companies running one large project, such as an integration or a reorganisation.
Read the advert for the days and the work.
One that lists diary and travel is an assistant role; one that lists a team of operations managers is a COO role.
Many of these seats can be done largely off-site.
Our remote fractional jobs board lists roles of every kind that say so.
06/ part-time chief of staff jobs
Part-time chief of staff jobs: employed for part of the week, or engaged
A part-time chief of staff job is usually a contract of employment for fewer days.
A fractional one is usually an engagement with the person’s own company.
The work can be the same; the contract and the tax position differ.
If you are employed part-time, part-time workers’ rights apply: you must not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee.
The CIPD covers part-time hours, compressed hours and job-shares as forms of flexible working.
Freelance chief of staff work sits on the engaged side, usually project by project.
Check how the role is set up before you compare offers.
Chief of staff salary for a permanent or part-time employed seat depends on the company’s size and what the seat owns.
We set out pay or day rate on every shortlist, so both sides see it before the first meeting.
07/ for candidates
How to become a fractional chief of staff the routes in
Most people come to the seat after working beside a CEO full-time first.
The usual routes are from executive assistant, management consulting, operations or strategy roles.
From an EA role, the step is from managing the CEO’s time to managing the CEO’s priorities.
Our executive assistant jobs board shows the seats that sit one step below.
From consulting or strategy, the step is from advising to carrying the work through.
Show a project you led to the end inside a company, not only the recommendation.
From operations, the step is from running one function to working across all of them.
Show how you got leaders who did not report to you to deliver.
Before going fractional, hold the seat full-time once, so you can show a CEO who will vouch for you.
CMI Chartered Manager status or Institute of Directors development are signals of management and board-level practice, among others.
08/ ir35 and contracts
IR35 and the fractional chief of staff status and contracts
A fractional chief of staff working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35).
A medium or large client makes the status determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides.
Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice.
HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool gives its view, and Acas explains that status rests on the contract and the way the two sides work together.
A chief of staff who sits in every leadership meeting needs that looked at closely.
Status for tax can also differ from employment status in law.
We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist and do not promise an outcome; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
09/ questions
Fractional chief of staff jobs FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional chief of staff.
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.
