Fractional CHRO · Fractional chief people officer, part of the week
Fractional CHRO · what one does, what one costs, when you need one
A fractional CHRO, or fractional chief people officer, is the most senior people leader in the business, engaged for an agreed part of the week on an ongoing basis, often for more than one company. They own the people strategy, sit in the leadership team and answer to the CEO and board for how the company hires, pays, develops and organises its people.
This page explains the role: the week, the cost, and how it compares with an interim or full-time CHRO. To hire a fractional CHRO or to browse fractional CHRO jobs, go to the hub. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent people leaders.
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
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional CHRO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CHRO 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
Fractional CHRO jobs on the board
No Fractional CHRO roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional HR leadership roles instead.
Live CHRO and people leadership roles
Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a CHRO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.
01/ the role
What is a fractional CHRO?
A fractional CHRO is a chief human resources officer engaged for part of the week, on an ongoing basis. “Fractional” describes the days, not the seniority: the person holds the CHRO seat in full, sets the people strategy and answers for it to the board, for an agreed number of days rather than five. In one line: the whole job, part of the week.
The work centres on what the CIPD, the professional body for HR, calls strategic HRM or “people strategy”: a coherent framework for how employees are hired, managed and developed to support the organisation’s long-term goals. At this level the CIPD’s Profession Map describes the work as driving long-term sustained value through strategic business insight and people expertise. For the full seat, see what a CHRO does.
CHRO, chief people officer or HR director?
CHRO and chief people officer are the same seat under two names; technology companies tend to say chief people officer, larger and regulated businesses CHRO. Exec Capital’s HR director salary guide says the HR director, CHRO and CPO titles describe broadly similar roles in most businesses, with CHRO and CPO signalling a more strategic, board-level mandate. If the gap is running the HR function rather than setting people strategy with the board, a fractional HR director is usually the better fit. A head of people is a level below again: see fractional head of people jobs.
02/ scope
What a fractional CHRO does, week to week
The first month
A review of where things stand: the structure and who reports to whom, pay and how it is decided, the contracts and policies, the hiring plan, attrition and the engagement data if there is any, and the open disputes. The output is a short written people plan the leadership team can agree, with what the CHRO will lead and what the HR team or providers will run.
A typical week
The leadership meeting, time with the CEO on the senior team, the organisation design work in flight, reward and performance, the hiring plan, and the people risks: a restructure, a dispute, a policy that no longer fits. Days are agreed in the contract and change as the work does.
The board
A fractional CHRO reports to the board on the people side of the plan: succession for the senior team, pay, culture and the risks. Larger employers have reporting duties of their own, such as gender pay gap reporting, and the CHRO owns the numbers and the explanation.
What they leave to others
Payroll, contracts, onboarding paperwork and day-to-day employee queries stay with an HR manager or adviser, an outsourced provider or an HR system. The CHRO sets how that work is done and checks it, and makes sure disciplinary and grievance cases follow a fair procedure in line with the Acas Code of Practice. They manage the relationship with employment lawyers rather than replace them.
03/ comparison
Fractional, interim, part-time or a full-time CHRO
Four ways to fill the seat. They differ in the days, the length and the contract; choose by how much of the week the work fills.
04/ vetting
How we vet fractional CHROs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CHRO 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/ what it costs
What a fractional CHRO costs retainers, and the full-time comparison
Exec Capital, a recruiter, publishes £4,000 to £12,000 a month for a retained fractional chief people officer at seed to Series B companies of 20 to 150 employees. No source we trust publishes a fractional CHRO day rate; the cost is the rate times the days, and we set out each candidate’s day rate or pay on the shortlist.
For a full-time CHRO or chief people officer, Robert Half’s 2026 HR salary guide gives £110,250 at the 25th percentile, £147,000 at the median and £183,750 at the 75th. A salary carries employer costs on top, and a day rate does not, so compare like with like. Published pay, each figure sourced, is on the CHRO salary page; what an engagement covers is on fractional CHRO services.
06/ fractional vs interim
Fractional CHRO vs interim CHRO part of the week, or all of it for a while
Fractional CHRO vs interim CHRO comes down to the days and the end date. A fractional CHRO holds the seat part of the week, on an ongoing basis, and stays while the business needs senior people judgement without a full-time week. An interim CHRO works full-time for a fixed period: a restructure, a merger, a TUPE transfer or a vacancy, then leaves.
Exec Capital puts an interim chief people officer at £750 to £1,400 a day, and an interim CHRO at £1,100 to £1,800 a day at large corporate and listed level; the difference is that an interim works every day of the assignment. A part-time CHRO is different again: usually an employee of one company on reduced hours. The CIPD treats part-time hours as one form of flexible working; the employment status is what differs from a fractional role. Outsourced HR is different from all three: a service, not one named person in the leadership team.
07/ when
When to hire a fractional CHRO the usual triggers
Companies usually look at when to hire a fractional CHRO once people decisions have outgrown a founder, an office manager or an HR generalist, but do not yet fill a chief people officer’s week. The common triggers:
Fast hiring. A funding round or a contract that doubles the team, and no plan for who, when or at what pay.
A first proper pay and performance framework. Pay decided case by case, and the cases starting to collide.
A restructure or an acquisition. Roles changing, teams merging, and consultation and transfer rules to get right.
A culture that is not holding. Attrition, disputes or a senior team that has stopped pulling together.
If the gap is daily and urgent, an interim CHRO fits better. When the work fills the week, most companies move to a full-time CHRO, sometimes the same person; we recruit that permanent hire too, and open roles are on the chief people officer jobs page.
08/ hiring
How to hire one the short version
Write down what the people function must deliver in the next twelve months, who the CHRO reports to, which HR staff or providers they manage and how many days that takes. Ask candidates for a CHRO or chief people officer role they held through the same kind of change, and take references from the CEOs they reported to.
Settle the contract before the start date. Where the CHRO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply; status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out the size tests). Our IR35 guide explains the tests.
To hire a fractional CHRO through us, send the brief. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
09/ questions
Fractional CHRO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional CHRO.
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.
