Fractional head of marketing salary · pro-rata arithmetic, 2026
What a fractional head of marketing earns, pro-rata of the permanent salary
No independent UK source publishes a fractional head of marketing day rate.
The figures here are the permanent head of marketing salary from Robert Half spread across working days — our arithmetic, a pro-rata floor for comparison, not a market rate.
On its £66,250 national median, a fractional head of marketing salary comes to about £300 a day.
One day a week for 46 weeks is about £13,850 a year on the same basis, and about £18,820 on Robert Half’s £90,000 London median (our arithmetic).
The rate you pay is the one a candidate quotes.
When you hire a fractional head of marketing through us, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
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 head of marketing
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with head of marketing 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 Head of marketing jobs on the board
No Fractional Head of marketing roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional executive roles instead.
- FractionalSyndicatedFractional People Director
People Puzzles Ltd · Cambridge
Rate not statedCambridge - FractionalSyndicatedFractional CFO
KeelCFO · England
Rate not statedEngland - FractionalSyndicatedFractional CFO
fin-house · London
£700–£1,000/dayLondon - FractionalSyndicatedFractional General Counsel
Ffern · London
est £1,000/day1 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedPerformance & Development Lead (Fractional)
Unity Advisory · London
Rate not stated3 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedFractional CFO
Amitours · United Kingdom
Rate not statedUnited Kingdom - FractionalSyndicatedFractional CISO (Contract / Project Based)
Cambridge Spark · United Kingdom
est £1,500/day2 d/wk - FractionalSyndicatedHead of Medical Compliance, Governance & Diligence (Fractional)
CNX Therapeutics Ltd · Greater London
est £1,000/dayGreater London - FractionalSyndicatedFractional Product Practice Leader - 9 Month Contract
Tails.com · London
est £1,000/day2 d/wk
Head of marketing roles on the board
Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a head of marketing brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.
01/ the role
How a fractional head of marketing is paid, and why this page shows arithmetic
A fractional head of marketing runs a company’s marketing for part of the week, often one to three days, while working for other clients too.
The remit is the same as the full-time seat: campaigns, channels, content, agencies and the leads handed to sales.
For the role in full, see what does a head of marketing do.
They are paid by the day or on a monthly retainer, not a salary.
We looked for an independent published day rate for the seat and found none.
What is published is either a provider’s own price list, a figure in another currency, or a page that quotes us back, and none of those is a market rate.
So this page starts from what is published: the permanent salary.
Robert Half puts a head of marketing at £55,250–£73,500 nationally in 2026, with a median of £66,250, and at a £90,000 median in London.
Ashdown Group’s 2026 national median is higher, at £87,615.
Every day and year figure on this page is one of those salaries divided out — our arithmetic.
The seat carries legal exposure whatever the days.
Non-broadcast advertising and direct marketing must follow the CAP Code, and email, text and phone marketing fall under the rules the ICO’s direct marketing guidance explains.
The CIM’s Chartered Marketer status is a useful signal of continuing development, not a requirement.
02/ scope
How to hire a fractional head of marketing
1. Scope the seat and count the days
Write down the team, the budget, the channels and the pipeline marketing must deliver.
Then estimate the days a week it needs.
The days set the cost; the scope sets the seniority.
2. Ask for quotes on the same basis
Ask every candidate for the day rate, the days a week, the minimum term and the notice on each side.
Two quotes that differ on any of those are not comparable.
Set them against the pro-rata figures in the table below, which are a floor for comparison, not a price.
3. Decide between a contractor and a part-time employee
A fractional head of marketing usually invoices through their own company.
If you would rather employ someone for part of the week, they are a part-time employee, and must not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time one (GOV.UK).
See part-time head of marketing for that route.
What we do on a fractional brief
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent marketing leaders, and non-executive directors.
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
For roles on the board, see fractional head of marketing jobs.
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.
Illustration only: one way a fractional head of marketing’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 · 9 roles · fractional executive
Engagement
- Fractional9
Seat
- CFO3
- CHRO1
- General counsel1
- HRD1
- CISO1
- Other1
- Other seats1
Days a week
- Stated in the posting4
- Not stated5
Day rate
- Verified rate1
- Estimated (est)4
- Rate not stated4
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
- Remote2
- Hybrid5
- On-site2
Newest posting on the board: 6 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.
05/ 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 head of marketing.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional head of marketing 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 head of marketing.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim head of marketing 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 head of marketing after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim head of marketing holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent head of marketing.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.
06/ rates by stage
Fractional head of marketing salary pro-rata of the permanent salary
Our arithmetic, not a market rate. Each permanent salary is divided by 220 working days for a day equivalent, then multiplied by 1, 2 and 3 days a week over 46 weeks. Every figure is worked from the full salary and rounded to the nearest £10. The salaries are as Robert Half and Ashdown Group, both recruiters, publish them for 2026.
07/ economics
What a buyer should check, beyond the day rate
Tax status turns on how the engagement runs, not on the title.
Under the off-payroll working rules (IR35), a medium or large client makes the status determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the contractor’s own company decides.
The rules apply contract by contract.
HMRC’s CEST tool gives its view on one engagement, and our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
A contractor who is registered for VAT adds it to every invoice.
Whether that is a real cost depends on whether your business can reclaim it, so ask before you compare quotes.
A day rate carries no benefits.
A contractor gets no holiday or sick pay from the client, and the client pays no employer pension contribution.
An employee is entitled to paid holiday and, under automatic enrolment, to an employer pension contribution.
That is why a pro-rata salary and a quoted day rate are not the same thing.
08/ vetting
How we vet fractional heads of marketing
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify head of marketing 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
09/ the method
How we worked out the day and year figures
We start from a published permanent salary.
We divide it by 220 working days, the convention this site uses for a full-time year, to give a day equivalent.
We then multiply by the days a week a fractional engagement might buy, over 46 weeks.
A day a week for 46 weeks is 46 days.
Every result is worked from the full salary and rounded to the nearest £10.
On Robert Half’s £66,250 national median, that gives about £300 a day and about £13,850 a year for a day a week.
All of it is our arithmetic.
The two national medians differ: Robert Half’s is £66,250 and Ashdown Group’s £87,615.
Both are in the table, so you can see how far the starting salary moves the result.
The arithmetic is a floor for comparison, not a market rate.
It leaves out everything an employer pays on top of a salary, and everything a contractor pays for themselves.
Use it to read a quote, not to set one.
10/ the other routes
Permanent, interim or fractional: which pay basis fits
A permanent hire is paid a salary and package; see head of marketing salary for the benchmarks by region and company size, and hire a head of marketing for the steps.
Full-time interim cover is paid by the day; see interim head of marketing salary.
A fractional engagement buys only the days the work needs.
If the business needs marketing on the board rather than a head of the team, see fractional CMO salary.
11/ questions
Fractional head of marketing salary FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional head of marketing.
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.
