Fractional CTO · Meaning · Cost · Fractional vs interim
Fractional CTO · what one does, what one costs, when you need one
A fractional CTO is a chief technology officer who holds the role for part of the week, often one to three days, on an ongoing basis. They own the technology strategy, the architecture and the engineering team, and answer to the CEO and board for them, for fewer days than a full-time CTO. Many work for more than one company.
Connectd puts a fractional CTO at £900 to £1,600 a day. This page covers what the role is, what it costs and when it fits. To hire a fractional CTO, or to see fractional CTO jobs, go to the hub. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent technology 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
In the press
Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Sixteen leaders on when a part-week C-suite hire makes sense and when a seat needs full-time ownership. That is the first decision behind any fractional CTO hire.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional CTO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CTO 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 CTO jobs on the board
No Fractional CTO roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional product and technology leadership roles instead.
Current fractional CTO and technology leadership roles
Fractional recruitment works differently from a permanent search — shorter, scoped by days a week, and priced on the engagement. Send a CTO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
What is a fractional CTO? a fraction of the week, not of the job
“Fractional” means a fraction of the week, not a fraction of the job. A fractional CTO holds the chief technology officer role in full: they decide what the company builds on and how, lead the engineers who build it, and answer to the CEO and board for the result. They do it for an agreed number of days rather than five. That is the fractional CTO meaning in one line, and it is what separates the role from a contractor who writes code or a consultancy that delivers a project.
The seat sits in the leadership team. It carries the technology risk the board is accountable for: the NCSC’s Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards sets out what boards are expected to ask about cyber resilience, and a CTO is usually the person who answers. Our page on what a CTO does covers the full role.
Ongoing, not a project
The arrangement is usually ongoing, reviewed as the product and the team grow rather than ending at a delivery date. For the wider idea, see what fractional work is.
Outsourced and virtual titles
An outsourced CTO is usually technology leadership bought as a service from a firm, often alongside its own development work, where the person doing the work can change. A fractional CTO is a named person holding the role. If a service is what you want, our fractional CTO services page sets out what it covers.
02/ scope
Fractional CTO: what one does week to week
With limited days, a fractional CTO spends them on the decisions that are expensive to get wrong. In practice the weeks go on five things.
Architecture and the build-or-buy calls
What the product is built on, what is bought rather than built, and which shortcuts the company can afford now and will have to pay back later.
The engineering team
Hiring engineers, setting how they work, reviewing the work and growing someone who can lead the team day to day.
Security and data
Proportionate security, starting from the five controls of Cyber Essentials, the government-backed minimum standard, and handling personal data within the UK GDPR.
The roadmap and the board
Turning the business plan into a technical roadmap, estimating it honestly, and explaining progress and risk to the board and to investors in due diligence.
Suppliers and R&D
Choosing and managing agencies and contractors, and supporting the finance lead on any claim for R&D tax relief, which turns on whether a project seeks an advance in science or technology.
What stays with the team
A fractional CTO is not the company’s only developer. Writing most of the code, running the sprints and keeping the systems up is done by the engineers, contractors or an agency. The CTO sets the direction, the standards and the priorities, and holds the work to account.
03/ comparison
Fractional CTO vs interim CTO vs part-time vs full-time
The titles overlap. The differences are in the days, the length and the contract.
04/ timing
When to hire a fractional CTO
Most companies bring in a fractional CTO when technology decisions have outgrown a founder or a lead developer, but the work does not yet fill a full-time CTO’s week. These are the common triggers.
Scenario 01
A non-technical founding team
Someone senior has to choose the stack, scope the first version and hire or manage the people who build it.
Scenario 02
Investor due diligence is coming
Investors will ask about the architecture, security, the team and the roadmap, and need answers from a technology leader.
Scenario 03
An agency or contractors with no one to judge them
Development is bought in, and nobody on the client side can say whether the work, the estimates or the invoices are right.
Scenario 04
The product has outgrown its foundations
Releases slow down, incidents rise and the lead developer is stretched between code, hiring and the board.
05/ vetting
How we vet fractional CTOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CTO 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
06/ fractional vs interim
Fractional or interim: part of the week, or all of it for a while
Fractional CTO vs interim CTO comes down to the days and the end date. A fractional CTO works part of the week on an ongoing basis. An interim CTO works full-time for a fixed period, then leaves: covering a departure, leading a platform rebuild or rescuing a failing programme. If the work fills the week for a few months and then stops, that is interim. If it needs a technology leader every week but not every day, that is fractional.
For a sense of interim scale, the Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey reports an average assignment of 10.0 months and an average interim day rate of £907 (£1,004 in the private sector). Those are averages across every discipline its members work in, not a CTO rate. For CTO roles held for a fixed period, see interim CTO jobs.
A part-time CTO is usually an employee on reduced hours for one company. The seniority can match a fractional role; the contract does not. A part-time employee should get the same treatment on pay rates, pension and holidays as a comparable full-time one, with some benefits pro rata, as GOV.UK sets out. See part-time CTO jobs. When the work grows to fill the week, many companies move to a full-time CTO, sometimes the same person. We recruit that permanent hire too.
07/ cost
What a fractional CTO costs by the day
The cost is the day rate times the days worked, or a monthly retainer for an agreed number of days. Connectd’s 2026 day-rate guide puts a fractional CTO at £900 to £1,600 a day, with £1,000 to £1,200 in the mid-market. By seniority it gives £650 to £800 at the lower end, £1,000 to £1,200 in the mid-market and £1,300 to £1,600 for senior CTOs.
For comparison, Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts the median full-time CTO salary at £160,500, within a range of £120,000 to £201,500, before employer National Insurance, pension, benefits and any equity.
Our fractional CTO cost page sets out the pricing in depth, and fractional CTO salary covers what CTOs earn. Every shortlist we send states each candidate’s day rate or pay.
08/ contract and ir35
How the engagement works: contract, pay and IR35
Most fractional CTOs work under a contract for services, as a sole trader or through their own limited company. They invoice the client and pay their own tax and National Insurance, as GOV.UK’s guidance on self-employment describes. Some are employed part-time instead.
Where the CTO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the title. In most cases the client decides; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides. HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool gives its view on a specific engagement, and our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Agree in writing who owns the code, the designs and the accounts the CTO sets up. A fractional CTO often works across several clients, and the contract should leave no doubt that your intellectual property is yours.
09/ hiring
Hiring one: the short version
Start with what technology must deliver over the next year: a first version, a rebuild, a team, a security standard, a due diligence the company can pass. That sets the days, the scope and the experience you need, such as the stack, the sector and the stage. Then decide who the CTO reports to and which people and suppliers they manage. Write it down; it becomes the brief.
Test the judgement, not only the CV: give candidates a real architecture decision or a supplier proposal and ask what they would do. Where a candidate claims Chartered IT Professional status, check it with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, whose Professional Register is the public record of its members.
The hub takes it from there: hire a fractional CTO sets out the process, and we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. If the gap is security leadership, see fractional CISO jobs; for every technology role, fractional tech jobs.
10/ questions
Fractional CTO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional CTO.
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.
