Hire a Fractional CIO · Fractional CIO Jobs UK
Fractional CIO Jobs · Hire fractional CIO
Hire a fractional CIO across the UK — or browse the fractional CIO roles.
£800–£2,000/day (Exec Capital, 2026), 1–3 days a week: strategic IT and digital leadership for scale-ups, PE-backed businesses and SMEs, without a permanent hire.
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 CIO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Fractional CIO 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 CIO jobs on the board
No Fractional CIO roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional executive roles instead.
- FractionalSyndicatedProduction Lead and Fractional CTO
Reg Advantage Ltd · London
est £1,500/dayLondon - FractionalSyndicatedReward Lead (Fractional- 12 month FTC)
Unity Advisory · London
est £750/day3 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedFractional Financial Controller
LRO Financial Consultancy · Worcester
est £650/dayWorcester - FractionalAvailable now · our mandateFractional SDR
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · Remote
Rate not statedRemote - FractionalAvailable now · our mandateFractional Executive Assistant
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate not stated2–3 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedPart time / Fractional Finance Director
PHIX · United Kingdom
est £650/day3 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedAcquisition CFO / Finance Director (Fractional)
CivSec Group · London
est £1,500/dayLondon - FractionalSyndicatedBusiness Affairs Executive (Fractional / Per-Project)
Twenty-Nine Palms Entertainment · London
est £1,100/dayLondon - FractionalSyndicatedFinancial Controller (fractional)
Fermtech · Oxford
est £550/dayOxford
Live Fractional CIO Job Opportunities
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a Fractional CIO brief and a shortlist of three to five.
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 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 £150,250 Robert Half 2026 (national) median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
- The fractional CIO at 2 days a week never passes permanent inside 24 months.
- Interim passes permanent at month 3.
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
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 CIO.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional CIO 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 CIO.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim CIO 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 CIO after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim CIO holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent CIO.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 is a Fractional CIO?
A fractional Chief Information Officer owns IT and digital strategy part-time — typically 1–3 days a week — for a business that needs board-level technology leadership but not a full-time hire.
Businesses hire a fractional CIO to set the technology roadmap, govern cyber and data risk, lead vendor and systems decisions, and increasingly own AI adoption and governance.
Fractional CIO vs interim CIO vs fractional CTO
A fractional CIO is an ongoing part-time engagement, often running alongside other clients.
An interim CIO is full-time for a defined term — cover, transformation or transition — see interim CIO jobs UK.
A fractional CTO owns product and engineering rather than enterprise IT and information systems — see fractional CTO jobs UK.
Get the brief right before you search: the costly mistake is hiring one model when you needed another.
04/ scope
What a Fractional CIO Actually Does
Core remit: technology strategy and roadmap, enterprise systems and architecture, cyber and information-security governance, data strategy, vendor and budget management, and IT operating-model design.
The fractional CIO is accountable at board level, not just for keeping the lights on.
The AI mandate is now central.
Nash Squared's 2025 Digital Leadership Report — the world's largest tech-leadership survey — found AI has become the #1 scarcest technology skill in the UK, with 89% of UK tech leaders piloting or investing in AI but 69% seeing no measurable ROI yet (Nash Squared, 2025).
A fractional CIO is one way to put AI-literate technology leadership in front of the board without a permanent hire.
How to hire a fractional CIO
Start with a written brief — stage, sector, and the days per week you need.
We come back with a shortlist of 3–5 fractional CIOs, each matched on transformation track record and, where the mandate calls for it, AI-adoption experience.
In PE-backed portfolio companies, technology value-creation and diligence-readiness usually sit at the top of the agenda.
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 CIO: £800–£2,000 a day (Exec Capital 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£145,600
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£72,263
Fractional CIO, 12 months£145,600
Fractional CIO, a month at 2 d/wk£12,124
Permanent CIO, same period£217,863
Fractional CIO, 12 months$192,905
Fractional CIO, a month at 2 d/wk$16,063
Permanent CIO, same period$288,646
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional CIO, 12 months€171,022
Fractional CIO, a month at 2 d/wk€14,241
Permanent CIO, same period€255,901
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 £150,250 Robert Half 2026 (national) 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 CIO’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 · 9 roles · fractional executive
Engagement
- Fractional9
Seat
- Financial controller2
- CTO1
- Other1
- SDR1
- Executive assistant1
- Finance director1
- Other seats2
Days a week
- Stated in the posting2
- Not stated7
Day rate
- Verified rate0
- Estimated (est)7
- Rate not stated2
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
- Remote1
- Hybrid3
- On-site3
- Not classified2
Newest posting on the board: 16 Oct 2026.
Postings per week on this board, last 90 days
9 postings on this board in the last 90 days, counted by the week each was published.
08/ rates by stage
Fractional CIO rates by company type
Exec Capital's 2026 fractional CIO day rates by mandate. Permanent benchmark: Robert Half's 2026 guide puts the national CIO salary range at £108,000 to £200,000 (median £150,250) and the London median at £204,250, and Exec Capital publishes permanent CIO base bands of £100,000–£180,000 (mid-market) and £200,000–£350,000+ (large or regulated).
09/ timing
When to hire a fractional CIO
Common scenarios where ongoing part-time technology leadership beats both a full-time hire and a consultancy
Scenario 01
Scale-up, no CIO
enterprise tech strategy before a permanent CIO hire is justified
Scenario 02
AI on the board agenda
adoption, vendor selection and governance without a permanent AI-literate CIO in seat
Scenario 03
PE-backed value creation
portfolio technology transformation and diligence-readiness
Scenario 04
Cyber & regulatory pressure
information-security governance and compliance for a growing SME
10/ vetting
How vetting and shortlisting work
Our structured 5-stage process for matching fractional CIOs with the right mandate — current-state assessment early, roadmap and governance next
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Fractional CIO 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
11/ hire a CIO
Hire a CIO — fractional, interim or permanent
Before you hire a CIO, work out how much of the week the technology agenda really fills.
If the board needs one person to own the roadmap, the suppliers and technology risk but the systems already run, hire a CIO on a fractional basis and review the days as the programme moves.
If the last CIO has left with a migration or a transformation half-finished, an interim CIO holds the seat full-time for a fixed term.
If technology is a standing board-level function in a large or regulated business, run a permanent search; our CIO headhunter page explains how that search is run.
Settle the scope before the first conversation.
A CIO owns enterprise systems, information and technology risk.
If the technology that matters is the product you sell, the seat is a fractional CTO; if the need is keeping a smaller firm's systems, suppliers and security in order, a fractional IT director may be enough.
Where data strategy is its own agenda, say whether it sits with the CIO or with a fractional CDO.
For an employed hire, Acas's hiring guidance walks through the job description, the interviews and the offer.
Companies that hire a CIO through us see the same format whichever model they choose: a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
For the part-week brief, see how to hire a fractional CIO.
12/ the role
The fractional chief information officer — what the seat owns at board level
A fractional chief information officer is the business's senior technology executive for part of the week: accountable at board level for IT and information strategy, the systems estate, suppliers and technology risk, without a permanent hire.
The difference from an IT manager or a managed-service provider is accountability.
A fractional CIO decides what to buy, what to retire and what risk the business accepts, and answers to the board for it; the day-to-day running stays with the in-house team or the provider.
Governance is now the core of the brief.
The government's Cyber Governance Code of Practice, co-designed with the NCSC, sets out what boards and directors should do to govern cyber risk, and a fractional CIO is often the person who turns it into a board report and a working risk register.
Where AI is on the agenda, the ICO's guidance on AI and data protection covers accountability, impact assessments and transparency — the questions a board should ask before an AI tool touches customer or staff data.
The fractional model is ongoing and part-time.
If you need a CIO full-time for a defined term — to cover a departure or run a heavy transformation — you want an interim CIO instead.
If the technology that needs leading is the product you sell rather than the systems you run, look at a fractional CTO.
For scope and engagement models, see fractional CIO services.
13/ part-time cio
Part-time CIO: the same seat, a set number of days
A part-time CIO holds the same Chief Information Officer seat for a fixed number of days a week rather than five.
In practice, part-time CIO and fractional CIO describe one arrangement.
An experienced CIO owns IT strategy, systems, suppliers and technology risk at board level, on an ongoing basis, often alongside one or two other clients.
What changes is the rhythm.
A part-time CIO is there for the board pack, the supplier reviews and the decisions that need a named owner.
The day-to-day running stays with the IT team or the managed-service provider.
It fits when the estate already runs and needs direction rather than rescue.
Typical cases are a business that has outgrown an IT manager reporting to the finance director, a scale-up approaching a funding round or an audit, and a board that needs someone to own cyber risk.
The government's Cyber Governance Code of Practice sets out what directors are expected to do about cyber risk, and the NCSC's Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards turns it into questions a board can ask.
A part-time CIO is often the person who writes the answers.
It fits less well when a programme needs full-time ownership.
A migration with a fixed go-live, or a CIO who has left mid-transformation, needs the whole seat for a term: that is an interim CIO.
14/ the engagement
The days, the scope and the first review
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Agree three things before the first day.
The first is the days.
Start from what the board calendar, the supplier reviews and the programme demand, not from a round number, and write the number down.
Exec Capital prices its growth-stage SME tier at £6,400–£9,600 a month for two days a week.
The second is the scope.
Name what the fractional CIO owns — the roadmap, the suppliers, technology risk, the board report — and what stays with the team.
Nobody should wait for a decision that belongs to someone else.
The third is the review.
Set a point where the board looks at what has moved and resets the days.
A fractional engagement can grow toward a permanent hire, settle at a day a week, or end once the estate has an owner.
Write the handover into the scope from the start: a supplier register, a risk register and a roadmap the next person can pick up.
If the plan is to hire a permanent CIO later, say so at the outset.
A fractional CIO who has run the estate for a year is well placed to draft the CIO job description and sit on the panel.
15/ private equity
Fractional CIO for PE-backed and portfolio companies
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Private equity is a steady buyer of fractional CIO time.
A portfolio company often needs senior technology direction for the hold period — integrating an acquisition, replacing a finance system, getting the estate ready for diligence — without a permanent CIO the plan can yet justify.
Exec Capital publishes a separate tier for this work: £1,200–£1,800 a day for PE-backed or transformation mandates, or £9,600–£14,400 a month at two days a week.
An operating partner's brief is usually about value and risk rather than technology for its own sake.
Expect three questions.
What does the IT estate cost, and what can be consolidated?
What will a buyer's technology diligence find?
Is cyber risk owned at board level?
A fractional CIO who has been through an exit can answer the second from experience, so ask to see the last diligence pack they prepared.
When a deal needs a full-time owner — a carve-out with a separation date, or a transitional services agreement to exit — that is an interim CIO brief instead.
16/ where the work happens
Remote and hybrid fractional CIO jobs
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Much of a fractional CIO's work travels.
The roadmap, supplier management, the board report and risk reviews can be done remotely.
Workshops, the first weeks and board meetings usually happen in person.
So many fractional CIO jobs are hybrid: a set day on site and the rest remote.
The board above shows how each current role describes itself — remote, hybrid or on-site — as the job feed classifies it.
For a CIO, remote work widens the market beyond one city.
For a business outside London, it widens the pool.
Permanent pay does vary by location: Robert Half's 2026 guide puts the national CIO salary range at £108,000 to £200,000, with a median of £150,250, against a London median of £204,250.
Exec Capital's fractional tiers are set by mandate rather than by region.
For more part-time roles that can be done from anywhere, see remote fractional jobs.
17/ contract
How the engagement is contracted
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Most fractional CIOs work through their own limited company under a contract for services.
A statement of work sets the scope, the days a week, the day rate or monthly retainer, the notice on each side and who owns what the work produces.
Some businesses put a fractional CIO on the payroll part-time instead.
That is an employment contract, with the rights that come with it.
For a limited-company engagement, IR35 status turns on how the work runs in practice: control over how the work is done, the right to send a substitute, and whether either side must offer or accept more work.
Medium and large clients make the status determination and must give their reasons; for a small private-sector client, the CIO's own company decides (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool records an answer against the facts it is given.
Each contract is judged on its own facts, and a second client does not settle the question by itself.
See the IR35 guide.
18/ before you appoint
What to test before you appoint
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Test for the level, not the title.
The SFIA framework, built for the digital and IT profession, describes its highest level of responsibility as determining overall organisational vision and strategy and assuming accountability for overall success.
Plenty of CVs carrying the CIO title describe work a level below that.
A fractional seat adds a second test: can this person get a board to a decision in the few days they are there?
Use a work sample.
Give the shortlist the same short brief — a summary of the estate, the suppliers and one live programme — and ask each candidate what they would do in their first month and what they would need to see first.
The CIPD's guidance on selection methods favours structured interviews scored by a panel, supported by work-sample tasks.
Take references from boards, not only from teams.
Ask a past chair or chief executive what the CIO changed in the time they had, and how they reported risk.
Directorships can be checked on the Companies House register.
Our part is the five-stage vetting and a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
19/ questions
Fractional CIO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional CIO.
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.
