How to hire a CEO · fractional or interim CEO · CEO or managing director

Hire a CEO · permanent, fractional or interim

To hire a CEO, the board first decides who runs the appointment and what the next chief executive must deliver.

It then chooses the route: a permanent appointment, an interim to hold the seat, or a fractional CEO for part of the week.

Candidates are tested on the business’s own problems, the chair takes references, and the service contract is agreed before anything is announced.

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

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

Brief us on a CEO 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 chief executive makes sense: many back it for a defined mandate, others want a full-time owner. The same trade-off sits under the choice between interim and fractional cover.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£120k–£250k

CEO base salary, SME · £5m–£50m revenue, 2026

Exec Capital, 2026

£1,000–£1,800

Interim CEO day rate · SME and mid-market

Exec Capital, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CEO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CEO 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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Pick a day that suits · live availability

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On the board · last 3 months

CEO roles jobs on the board

1 on the board · 0 confirmed open

InterimSyndicated
Interim Chief Executive Officer (Women's Health Charity)
Verity (PMOS UK) · United Kingdom
Rate not stated3 d/wk

Browse every role on the board →

Current chief executive roles on our board

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a CEO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

Hire a CEO: what the board is appointing

A CEO answers to the board for the whole company: strategy, results, the senior team and the culture.

In most companies they also sit on the board as a director.

A CEO for hire on a day rate is usually an interim or fractional chief executive.

A permanent CEO is appointed to own the strategy for years, and the board treats the two hires differently.

What comes with the seat

As a director, the chief executive is legally responsible for running the company and for what it files at Companies House.

Hiring advisers does not move that responsibility.

Every director must verify their identity with Companies House; it has been a legal requirement since 18 November 2025.

Build it into the start date.

In an FCA-regulated firm, the chief executive holds a senior management function and needs approval before starting.

Allow for it in the timetable and the offer.

The search itself (the long list, interviews and the headhunter) is set out on our page on CEO recruitment.

A charity board has its own route: charity CEO recruitment.

02/ scope

How to hire a CEO: the board’s process

1. Decide who runs the appointment

For a listed company, Provision 17 of the UK Corporate Governance Code asks the board to set up a nomination committee to lead appointments, with a majority of independent non-executive directors.

In a private or investor-backed company, a small panel works: the chair, an investor director and an independent non-executive.

The outgoing chief executive can advise, but does not choose.

2. Write the brief

Set out what should be true at the end of year one and year three, what the new chief executive inherits, and how the chair and the CEO will split the work.

Agree it as a board before anyone is approached, then turn it into a CEO job description.

3. Test on the business’s own problems

Give every shortlisted candidate the same case from your own business and a presentation to the panel.

Our CEO interview questions set out what to ask.

4. Take references yourself

The chair should call a former chair and an investor who worked with the candidate, not only the names offered.

Ask what the candidate changed, and what they left behind.

Search past directorships and the disqualified directors list on the Companies House register before the offer.

5. Agree the contract before the announcement

Under section 188 of the Companies Act 2006, a director’s service contract with a guaranteed term of more than two years needs a resolution of the members.

Notice periods count towards that term.

The company must keep a copy of the service contract available for inspection.

Settle notice, restrictions and any equity with your lawyers before the name goes public.

What we do on a brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ 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 · 1 role · CEO roles

Engagement

Interim1

Days a week

Stated in the posting1
Not stated0

Day rate

Verified rate0
Estimated (est)0
Rate not stated1

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote0
Hybrid1
On-site0

Newest posting on the board: 18 Sept 2026.

04/ economics

What the hire costs, from published figures

Exec Capital’s 2026 CEO salary guide gives base salary bands of £70k–£130k at an early-stage startup, £120k–£250k at an SME with £5m–£50m revenue and £200k–£400k in the mid-market (£50m–£250m).

Employer National Insurance adds 15% on pay above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27), before bonus, pension and any equity.

Exec Capital and FD Capital are both recruiters, and these are their published figures, not a survey of your sector.

More detail sits on CEO salary.

05/ comparison

Permanent, interim or fractional?

Three ways to fill the chief executive’s seat. Choose by how long the work runs, and how much of the week it needs.

PermanentInterimFractional

TimeFull-time, open-endedFull-time, for a fixed termAgreed days a week, most often two to three (FD Capital)

SuitsA business whose strategy needs one owner for yearsA sudden departure, a turnaround, a sale or a search still runningA founder stepping back, or a smaller business that needs senior leadership part of the week

Published cost£120,000–£250,000 base at an SME with £5m–£50m revenue (Exec Capital, 2026), plus employer NI and benefits£1,000–£1,800 a day, SME and mid-market (Exec Capital, 2026)£800–£1,500 a day (FD Capital); £5,000–£10,000 a month for two days a week (Exec Capital)

ContractA director’s service contract, on payrollFixed-term, or services; IR35 decided by how it runsServices; IR35 decided by how the engagement runs

06/ vetting

How we vet CEOs

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify CEO 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/ hire a fractional CEO or an interim CEO

Hire a fractional CEO or an interim CEO: which cover fits

Whether to hire a fractional CEO or an interim CEO turns on one question: does the seat need a full-time leader for a fixed stretch, or senior leadership for part of every week?

An interim CEO works full-time for a fixed term: after a sudden departure, through a turnaround or a sale, or while the permanent search runs.

A search for "hire interim CEO" usually follows one of those.

Exec Capital publishes £1,000–£1,800 a day for an interim CEO at SME and mid-market businesses, and £1,800–£3,500 for complex listed or private-equity-backed mandates.

To go this way, hire an interim CEO.

A fractional CEO works agreed days, most often two to three a week according to FD Capital, which publishes £800–£1,500 a day.

Exec Capital puts two days a week at £5,000–£10,000 a month.

On how to hire a fractional CEO, the board process above still applies; add the days, the decisions they can take alone, and the end date to the brief.

The roles and the route are on hire a fractional CEO.

If the chief executive works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

08/ CEO or managing director: which hire

CEO or managing director: which hire

CEO or managing director is often a choice of title rather than of job.

The Institute of Directors describes the managing director or chief executive as the most senior full-time executive of the company, unless there is an executive chair, and calls the two roles virtually the same.

The titles part company in a group.

There, a chief executive usually leads the group and sets its strategy, and a managing director runs one business inside it.

Choose the title the candidates you want already hold, and the one your investors and customers expect.

Owner-managed businesses often use the MD title; investor-backed ones more often say CEO.

The process is the same either way.

For the MD search, see managing director recruitment.

09/ questions

Hire a CEO FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CEO.

The board decides who runs the appointment, writes the brief and agrees it, then chooses permanent, interim or fractional. Shortlisted candidates face the same case from your business, the chair takes references, and the service contract is settled before the announcement.

Exec Capital’s 2026 CEO salary guide gives base salary of £120k–£250k at an SME with £5m–£50m revenue and £200k–£400k in the mid-market; employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). Exec Capital publishes £1,000–£1,800 a day for an interim at SME and mid-market businesses. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Five: decide who runs the appointment, write the brief, test candidates on your own problems, take references yourself, and agree the contract before the announcement. The first step is the one most often skipped, and it decides whose judgement the hire rests on.

The board, through the chair or a nomination committee, not the outgoing chief executive. For a listed company, the UK Corporate Governance Code asks for a nomination committee with a majority of independent non-executive directors, and says the chair should not chair it when it deals with the chair’s own successor.

Interim when the seat needs a full-time leader for a fixed term: a sudden departure, a turnaround, a sale or a search still running. Fractional when the business needs senior leadership for agreed days a week, most often two to three according to FD Capital.

In a single company the two titles usually describe the same job; the IoD calls them virtually the same. In a group, the CEO usually leads the group and an MD runs one business inside it. Choose the title your candidates and investors expect.

Pay, notice, restrictions after leaving, any equity and the duties of the role. A guaranteed term of more than two years, notice included, needs a resolution of the members under section 188 of the Companies Act 2006, and the company must keep a copy available for inspection.

It can, if they work through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

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