Fractional executive · Fractional director · Fractional hiring

Fractional Executive · what one is, which seats go fractional, how to hire one

A fractional executive is a senior leader who holds a real seat, such as CFO, CMO, CTO, COO or HR director, for part of the week on an ongoing basis, often one to three days.

They own the function and its results and report to the CEO or board, usually for more than one company at a time.

This page covers what the role is, which seats go fractional, how it differs from interim, part-time and permanent, and what it costs.

To hire a fractional executive, send us a brief; to look for work, see fractional executive jobs.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

Brief us on an executive hire →See the roles

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

Financial Times The executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance (paywall)
On senior people who choose to sit at leadership level in several companies at once rather than freelance. That is the difference between a fractional executive and a consultant, and it is the model this page describes.
International Finance Renting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived · 17 Sep 2026
Argues the model has moved from a startup stopgap to a mid-market way of hiring, led by finance and marketing. Useful context before deciding which of your seats could run part of the week.

£600–£1,500

Fractional CFO day rate · a day

Connectd

£750–£1,400

Fractional CMO day rate · a day

Connectd

£907

Interim day rate, all disciplines · average, 2026

IIM

3–5

Shortlist · with day rate, availability and IR35 set out

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional executive

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with executive 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

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

Fractional executive jobs · last 3 months

Fractional executive jobs on the board

12 on the board · 2 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Current fractional executive roles

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a executive 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 executive? a real seat, part of the week

“Fractional” describes the days, not the job.

A fractional executive holds the whole seat: they set the plan for their function, lead its people, answer for its numbers and sit in the leadership meetings.

They do it for an agreed share of the week instead of five days.

Fractional executives are not advisers who hand over a report and leave, and they are not cover for a gap.

Most fractional execs have run the function full-time before, often more than once.

Because each client takes only part of their week, many hold two or three seats at once in companies that do not compete.

A fractional exec usually works through their own limited company and is paid a day rate or a monthly retainer.

People sometimes search for a fractional executive firm.

Firms and platforms exist; the person in the seat is still an individual executive, and what matters is their record in the seat.

For the meaning of the word itself, see what fractional work is.

Which seats go fractional

Finance is a common starting point: a fractional CFO for the numbers, the cash and the investors.

Marketing has the fractional CMO, technology the fractional CTO, and operations the fractional COO.

People leadership goes fractional too: see fractional HR.

Director-level seats below the C-suite, such as a finance, sales or marketing director, are often filled the same way.

02/ scope

What one does, week to week

With limited days, a good fractional leader spends them on the decisions only the seat holder can make, and builds a team that runs without them on the other days.

The first month

A review of the function as it stands: the people, the numbers, the systems and the open problems.

The output is a short plan the CEO and board agree, with the few things that matter most in the next two quarters.

A typical week

Leadership meetings, one-to-ones with the team they lead, the decisions and approvals that need a senior signature, and time with the CEO.

Between their days they stay reachable for the things that cannot wait, on terms agreed at the start.

What stays with the team

The day-to-day work.

A fractional leader is not a pair of hands: the bookkeeping, the campaigns, the code and the admin stay with employees or suppliers.

If nobody does that work yet, part of the job is to hire or appoint the people who will.

03/ the week

How a week divides.

Part of a week is the point of the model: the days you buy are yours, the rest of the week goes to other clients. Move the days a week and the week redraws.

Days a week for your company2 days

Your companyAnother clientA third client

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Illustration only: one way a fractional executive’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.

04/ 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 · 12 roles · Fractional executive

Engagement

Fractional10
Interim2

Seat

CFO3
Finance director2
General counsel1
HRD1
COO1
CISO1
Other seats3

Days a week

Stated in the posting7
Not stated5

Day rate

Verified rate1
Estimated (est)7
Rate not stated4

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote2
Hybrid6
On-site4

Newest posting on the board: 5 Oct 2026.

05/ comparison

Fractional, interim, part-time or permanent

Four ways to put a senior leader in a seat. They differ in the days, the length and the contract; choose by how much of the week the work fills.

FractionalInterimPart-timePermanent

DaysPart of the week, often one to three daysUsually full-timeReduced hoursFull-time

LengthOngoing, reviewed as the business changesA fixed period, then they leaveOngoingOpen-ended

ContractUsually a contract for services, often through their own companyUsually a contract for servicesAn employment contract with one companyAn employment contract

Other clientsOftenRarely during the assignmentSometimesNo

Published payDay rate: fractional CFO £600–£1,500 (Connectd)Day rate: £907 average across all disciplines (IIM, 2026)Salary, pro rataSalary

06/ timing

When a seat can run part of the week

A seat goes fractional when the company needs senior judgement in it every week, but the work does not yet fill five days. These are the common triggers.

Scenario 01

The founder holds every seat

Focus

Finance, marketing or people work has grown past what the founder can do in the evenings, but not into a full-time role.

Scenario 02

Investors want a senior name

Funding

A raise, a lender or a board needs someone senior to stand behind the plan, the numbers or the technology.

Scenario 03

The team needs a leader

Team

Capable people with nobody senior above them, where one or two days of leadership a week changes how they work.

Scenario 04

A full-time hire is a year away

Bridge

The seat will be full-time one day.

A fractional leader sets it up, and sometimes becomes the permanent hire.

07/ vetting

How we vet fractional executives

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify executive 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

08/ the title

Fractional director: the title, the board and the duties

Fractional director is used two ways.

Most often it names a director-level seat held part of the week: a finance director, a marketing director or a fractional HR director, leading a function below or instead of a C-suite title.

Sometimes it means a part-week executive who is also appointed to the board as a company director.

The second use carries law with it.

A company director, part-week or not, must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence, judged against what is expected of someone doing that job.

Directors stay legally responsible for the company’s records, accounts and performance even when others run them day to day.

Agree in writing whether the fractional leader is appointed a director, and what they decide alone.

A non-executive director is a different role: a board seat with oversight and challenge, not an executive who runs a function.

See non-executive director jobs.

For fractional director jobs and other part-week seats, see the board below.

09/ hiring

Fractional hiring: how a part-week leader is found and engaged

Fractional hiring follows the same discipline as any senior appointment, with three extra decisions: how many days, which days, and what the leader may decide between them.

A fractional hire that fails usually fails on scope, not on talent.

Start with what the seat must deliver over the next year.

That sets the days and the experience you need.

Then decide the reporting line, whether the leader joins the board, how they are reached between their days, and how you will review the arrangement after the first quarter.

Write it down; it becomes the brief.

You can run the search yourself (see where to find fractional executives), buy a firm’s fractional executive services (see fractional leadership services), or use a fractional recruitment agency.

If the seat needs someone full-time for a fixed period, that is interim executive search instead.

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

Our page on how to hire a fractional executive sets out the process.

10/ contract and status

Fractional employment: contracts, status and IR35

Fractional employment is a loose phrase: most fractional leaders are not employees.

In employment law, employment status decides a person’s rights and the employer’s responsibilities; the main types are worker, employee, self-employed and contractor, director and office holder.

Status for tax can differ, and courts and tribunals make the final decision.

Most fractional leaders work under a contract for services, as a sole trader or through their own limited company.

GOV.UK’s signs of running a business include having several customers at the same time and deciding how, where and when you work, which is how most fractional work runs.

Some are employed part-time instead: a part-time employee should get the same treatment as a comparable full-time one on pay rates, pension and holidays, with some benefits pro rata.

Where the leader works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

Status is decided by how the engagement runs in practice, not by the title.

In most cases a medium or large client makes the determination; 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.

Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

11/ cost

What it costs day rates by seat

The cost is the day rate times the days, or a monthly retainer for an agreed number of days.

Connectd, a fractional marketplace, publishes 2026 day-rate bands per seat: a fractional CFO at £600 to £1,500, a fractional CMO at £750 to £1,400, a fractional CTO at £900 to £1,600 and a fractional COO at £800 to £1,400, with monthly retainers from £5,000 to £16,000.

These are asking prices it advises practitioners on, not a survey of what clients paid.

For interim work, the Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey reports an average day rate of £907 (£1,004 in the private sector) and an average assignment of 10.0 months.

Those are averages across every discipline its members work in, and they are for interim, usually full-time, assignments.

Our rate calculator turns a day rate and a number of days into a monthly and annual figure.

Every shortlist we send states each candidate’s day rate or pay.

12/ for candidates

Going fractional: for executives looking for the work

If you are the executive, the route in is a record in the seat, a clear offer and a limited company or sole-trader set-up.

Our guide on how to become a fractional executive covers where to start and how to contract.

Roles are advertised under several titles: fractional, part-time, interim with reduced days.

The board below lists fractional leadership jobs, and fractional jobs holds the full board.

13/ questions

Fractional executive FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional executive.

A senior leader who holds a real seat, such as CFO, CMO, CTO, COO or HR director, for part of the week on an ongoing basis, often one to three days. They own the function and its results and report to the CEO or board, usually for more than one company at a time.

Most senior seats: finance, marketing, technology, operations and people among them. See fractional CFO, fractional CMO, fractional CTO and fractional HR.

Usually a director-level seat, such as a finance, marketing or HR director, held part of the week. Sometimes it means a part-week executive who is also appointed to the board, and then carries a director’s legal duties in full.

A fractional executive works part of the week on an ongoing basis. An interim executive usually works full-time for a fixed period, such as a vacancy, a sale or a turnaround, then leaves. See interim executive search.

Define what the seat must deliver, the days, the reporting line and whether the leader joins the board. Then run the search yourself or brief a recruiter. Agree in writing how the leader is reached between their days and when the arrangement is reviewed.

Usually not. Most fractional leaders work under a contract for services through their own company or as a sole trader; some are part-time employees. Where they work through their own company, the off-payroll working rules may apply, and a medium or large client makes the determination. We set out each candidate’s IR35 position and do not promise an outcome.

The day rate times the days. Connectd publishes 2026 bands of £600 to £1,500 a day for a fractional CFO and £750 to £1,400 for a fractional CMO. Every shortlist we send states each candidate’s day rate or pay.

Write the brief (outcomes, days, reporting line, board seat) and send it to us. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. See hire a fractional executive.

On our fractional jobs board. For the route in, see how to become a fractional executive.

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.

Book a call →Submit a brief