Fractional sales director · Part-time sales leadership · Part of the week

Fractional sales director · what one does, what one costs, when you need one

A fractional sales director is an experienced sales leader who runs your sales function on agreed days a week rather than full-time: the sales strategy, the team, the pipeline and the forecast.

Below: what one does week to week, what one costs, how the role differs from an interim sales director, and when to hire a fractional sales director. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time and permanent sales leaders; every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on a sales 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

Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Leaders disagree on when a part-week executive makes sense and when a seat needs a full-time owner. For a sales team the question is concrete: does it need a leader to build the system, or a manager in the room every day?

3–5

Shortlist · with day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£500–£1,000

Fractional sales director · per day, commonly 4–12 days a month

Exec Capital

£100,000

Full-time sales director, median advertised · IT-sector permanent ads

IT Jobs Watch, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional sales director

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

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On the board · last 3 months

Fractional sales director jobs on the board

0 Fractional sales director · 9 fractional executive

No Fractional sales director roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional executive roles instead.

Browse every role on the board →

Current fractional sales director and sales leadership roles

How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a sales director brief and a shortlist of three to five.

01/ the role

What is a fractional sales director?

A fractional sales director holds the sales director seat for agreed days a week. They set the sales strategy, build and lead the team, own the pipeline and the forecast, and answer for the number. The job is the one O*NET describes for sales managers: set territories, quotas and goals, train the sellers, and read the sales data to judge potential. O*NET lists both “Sales Director” and “Fractional Sales Executive” among the job titles reported for it.

Fractional sales director meaning

“Fractional” describes the time, not the seniority. A fractional sales director is not a sales trainer or a consultant who writes a playbook and leaves: they sit in the leadership team, manage the sellers, and own the forecast the board reads. Many lead sales for more than one company, which is why the days are agreed in writing.

Sales director, head of sales, CRO

A sales director leads the sales function and usually reports to the CEO or managing director. A head of sales is often the same seat in a smaller or earlier-stage business, or the level below a sales director. A chief revenue officer owns sales, marketing and customer success together. If the gap is the whole revenue engine, look at a fractional CRO; if it is a hands-on lead for a small team, a fractional head of sales.

02/ scope

Fractional sales director: what one does, week to week

First, the diagnosis

Most engagements open with a read of the sales function: the pipeline and how it is built, conversion by stage, deal size and cycle length, how each seller performs, the comp plan, the CRM and the forecast. The output is a sales plan with targets, a process, and the hiring or changes the team needs.

A typical week

On their days, a fractional sales director runs the pipeline review and the forecast call, holds one-to-ones with the sellers, joins key deals and negotiations, and works with marketing on lead quality. Off their days, the team sells to the process and cadence they set.

What the seat owns

The sales strategy and targets; the team and its hiring; the sales process and the CRM; the forecast; pricing and discount discipline within the limits the business sets. Comp plans are contract terms: Acas notes that an employee’s entitlement to commission should be in their written statement of employment particulars, and that changing a contractual scheme means changing the contract. Outbound selling to business contacts must also follow the ICO’s business-to-business marketing rules.

What it does not replace

A fractional sales director builds and leads the team; they are not the team. If the plan depends on one person closing most of the deals, hire sellers first, or alongside.

03/ economics

What a fractional sales director costs

A fractional sales director costs their day rate times the days they work. Exec Capital puts fractional sales directors at £500 to £1,000 a day, depending on seniority, sector and the complexity of the mandate, commonly working four to twelve days a month with a minimum engagement of three to six months. Exec Capital recruits sales directors, so these are provider figures, not a survey.

For comparison, IT Jobs Watch puts the median advertised salary for a full-time sales director at £100,000 (IT-sector permanent job ads, base salary, not on-target earnings). Interim sales directors, who work full-time weeks, cost £500 to £900 a day in SMEs up to £20m revenue and £800 to £1,400 in mid-market and PE-backed businesses (Exec Capital).

We set out each candidate’s day rate on the shortlist. Our rate calculator turns a day rate and days a week into a monthly figure, and the sales director salary guide covers base and on-target earnings.

04/ comparison

Fractional sales director vs interim sales director vs part-time vs full-time

A fractional sales director works agreed days a week for as long as sales needs a senior leader but not five days of one. An interim sales director works full-time for a fixed term, through a departure, a turnaround or a push to a deadline. A part-time sales director is an employee on fewer days; a full-time one is the permanent lead.

FractionalInterimPart-timeFull-time

TimeAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsFull-time, for a fixed termFixed days a week, for you aloneEvery working day, open-ended

Usual reasonBuild or reset the sales system without a full-time hireA departure, a turnaround or a target to holdA long-term seat at reduced hoursA large team needs a daily leader

Usually engagedThrough their own company; IR35 turns on how it runsThrough their own company, by the dayEmployment contractEmployment contract

Published pay£500–£1,000 a day, 4–12 days a month (Exec Capital)£500–£900 a day, SME (Exec Capital); all-discipline average assignment 10.0 months (IIM 2026)Salary pro rata£100,000 median advertised salary (IT Jobs Watch)

05/ timing

When to hire a fractional sales director

Three situations where a part-week sales leader fits, and one where it does not.

Scenario 01

The founder still closes every deal

From founder-led to a team

The founder has sold the first customers and the business now needs a process, a hiring profile and a forecast. A fractional sales director builds them before you commit to a full-time package.

Scenario 02

The team misses and nobody knows why

A reset of process and pipeline

Targets are missed, the forecast slips and the CRM tells a different story from the sellers. A fractional sales director finds where deals stall and fixes the process and the people.

Scenario 03

A new market, segment or channel

Senior selling for a defined push

Moving into enterprise, a new sector or selling through partners needs a sales leader who has done it before, not necessarily five days a week.

Scenario 04

A large team has just lost its leader

Hire interim instead

A big sales team mid-quarter needs a full-time leader in the room. Look at an interim sales director.

06/ vetting

How we vet fractional sales directors

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify sales director 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

07/ hiring, in short

How to hire a fractional sales director the short version

Write the scope first: the number the seat owns, the team it leads, whether it carries deals itself, and how many days a week that takes. The full process, and the current roles on our board, are on our page to hire a fractional sales director; candidates can browse fractional sales director jobs there too.

Test the work, not the CV. Give candidates your pipeline report and last quarter’s forecast and ask what they would change first, and take references from the CEOs they reported to and sellers they led. The Institute of Sales Professionals is the UK membership body for sales; membership is a signal of commitment to the craft, not a requirement. For the role in full, see what a sales director does.

Settle IR35 before the start date. A fractional sales director working through their own company may fall under the off-payroll working rules. Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice: a medium or large client makes the determination, while for a small private-sector client the worker’s own company decides (HMRC’s guidance for clients sets the size tests). One hired part-time on your payroll is an employee. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

08/ questions

Fractional sales director FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional sales director.

An experienced sales leader who holds the sales director seat for agreed days a week rather than full-time. They set the sales strategy, build and lead the team, own the pipeline and forecast, and answer for the number.

They diagnose the sales function first (pipeline, conversion, sellers, comp plan, CRM, forecast), then on their days run the pipeline review and forecast call, coach the sellers, join key deals and work with marketing on lead quality. The team sells to their process on the other days.

A fractional sales director works agreed days a week on an ongoing basis, usually to build or reset the sales system. An interim sales director works full-time for a fixed term, through a departure, a turnaround or a target to hold. Exec Capital puts interim sales directors at £500 to £900 a day in SMEs. See interim sales director jobs.

When the founder still closes every deal and the business needs a sales system, when the team misses targets and nobody can say why, or when a new market or channel needs a leader who has done it before. Not when a large team has suddenly lost its leader: hire an interim then.

The day rate times the days worked. Exec Capital puts fractional sales directors at £500 to £1,000 a day, commonly four to twelve days a month; IT Jobs Watch puts the median advertised full-time sales director salary at £100,000. We set out each candidate’s day rate on the shortlist.

Write the scope (the number, the team, whether they carry deals, the days), test candidates on your real pipeline and forecast, take references from CEOs and sellers they led, and settle IR35 before the start. Our page to hire a fractional sales director sets out the full process; we send a shortlist of 3–5.

No. A sales director leads the sales function. A chief revenue officer owns sales, marketing and customer success against one number. If all three need one owner, see fractional CRO jobs.

It depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on its label. In most cases a medium or large client decides the status; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist and do not promise an outcome.

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.

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