Fractional head of finance jobs · hire a fractional head of finance, or hire one for good

Fractional head of finance jobs: the seat between controller and FD

Head of finance is the title growing companies give the person who runs finance before, or instead of, a finance director. The seat owns the month-end and the management accounts through a small team, the budget and forecast, cash, the audit and the finance systems. It prepares the board pack, and often presents it, without holding a board seat. The title is common in venture-backed scale-ups and in subsidiaries where a group FD or CFO sits above. In a scale-up it can be the first senior finance hire.

The title and the board

A title does not make someone a director, and the lack of one does not stop them being treated as one. Under the Companies Act, “director” includes any person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called. The appointed directors stay legally responsible for the company’s records, accounts and performance, even when someone else manages them day to day. Agree in writing what a fractional head of finance may decide alone and what goes to the board.

What our board lists

The board below lists finance director and financial controller roles, the two seats either side of head of finance, with CFO and FP&A roles when there are few. For every senior finance role, see fractional finance jobs.

Head of finance vs finance director vs financial controller where the seat sits

Head of finance vs finance director vs financial controller is a question of reach. A financial controller owns how the numbers are produced and checked. A finance director owns what they mean for the business and answers for them to the bank and the board. A head of finance sits between the two: they run the whole function day to day, set the budget and watch the cash, but the final word and the board seat usually sit with someone else.

Robert Half’s financial controller profile lists managing day-to-day finances, leading reporting, overseeing budgeting, forecasting and month-end, and managing controls, audits and risk. Its 2026 guide puts a full-time financial controller at £63,000 to £92,500 (25th to 75th percentile), median £76,750. Its finance director profile describes the FD as the connection between the finance team and the CEO or CFO; the UK median is £109,500 (Robert Half), and £149,000 in London (Robert Half).

No source we trust publishes a head of finance salary we can cite, so the table leaves it blank. Before you hire, compare the seats either side: for the FD seat in an owner-managed business, see fractional FD jobs; for the level below, fractional finance manager jobs; for the full finance director guide, fractional finance director.

IR35 and fractional heads of finance employed part-time or through a company

A fractional head of finance is either employed on a part-time contract or works through their own company. Where they work through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. In most cases the client decides the status; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides, and HMRC sets out the size tests in its guidance for clients.

Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice. A head of finance who manages your team on your systems to your timetable should have that set out in the contract, and the contract run that way. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.