How to hire a CHRO · chief people officer · rapid expansion · permanent, fractional, part-time or interim
Hire a CHRO · permanent, fractional or interim
To hire a CHRO, first write down the people problem the business must solve in the next year: growth that is outrunning its managers, a restructure, a deal, or a board that wants people risk reported properly.
Then choose the route (permanent, fractional, part-time or interim), approach people who are not already looking, and test each candidate on your own people plan.
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.
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)
Useful before you choose the part-week route. The FT describes senior people who lead inside several companies at once rather than freelance, which is how most fractional people leaders work.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a CHRO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CHRO 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
CHRO roles jobs on the board
No CHRO roles roles on the board in the last three months. Showing HR leadership roles instead.
On the board CHRO and HR leadership roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a CHRO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
Hire a CHRO: what the seat owns before you write the brief
A CHRO owns the people side of the business: organisation design, reward, leadership and succession, employee relations, culture and the people data the board sees.
They answer to the CEO and, in larger companies, work closely with the board and its remuneration committee.
Before you hire, decide which of those the seat must fix first.
A business doubling its headcount needs a different CHRO from one closing a site or integrating an acquisition.
One seat, several titles
Chief human resources officer and chief people officer are two names for the same seat, and an advert that says "hire CHRO" reaches both.
The difference is usually emphasis, not scope.
An HR director is usually a level below: running the HR function and its policies rather than setting the people strategy with the executive team.
If that is the job, see HR director recruitment.
The level, not the title
The CIPD Profession Map, the people profession’s standard, writes its standards at four levels of impact, from tactical work for the immediate team to strategic work that influences people across the organisation.
CIPD suggests using it to design a role and to recruit people professionals.
A CHRO brief sits at the strategic end.
Plenty of CVs carry the title for work a level below, so write the brief against the level first.
02/ scope
How to hire a CHRO: the steps
1. Write the brief around the people problem
Set out what the CHRO will own, what they inherit (team, policies, systems, open disputes) and who they report to.
Then say what should be different after twelve months.
2. Choose the route
Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim: the sections below set out which fits which situation.
Decide this before you set a budget, because the cost basis differs.
3. Search, then test on your own plan
Many strong people leaders are in post and not reading adverts, so someone has to approach them; a CHRO headhunter does that for a permanent seat.
Give every candidate the same work sample: your organisation chart and next year’s plan, and the question of what the structure, the pay framework and the management layer need to look like to deliver it.
Score the answers against criteria agreed in advance, with a panel rather than one interviewer.
Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one, with discrimination and data protection law applying throughout.
A people leader will notice if yours is not.
4. Check what you are told
Ask which CIPD grade the candidate holds and check it against the CIPD’s membership levels; Chartered Membership is for people professionals with strategic and operational expertise.
Take references yourself from a CEO and a chair or remuneration committee member who worked with them.
If you employ the CHRO, you must check their right to work before they start.
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 · HR leadership
Engagement
- Fractional1
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
- Hybrid0
- On-site1
Newest posting on the board: 2 Oct 2026.
04/ economics
What the seat costs salary, retainer or day rate
Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a CHRO or chief people officer at £110,250 to £183,750, with a median of £147,000.
Employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27).
Size moves the figure a long way.
Robert Walters’ salary survey puts a London chief people officer at £140,000–£190,000 in a business of 50 to 250 people, and £180,000–£450,000 in one of 250 or more.
Exec Capital, a recruiter, publishes £750–£1,400 a day for an interim chief people officer, and £1,100–£1,800 a day for an interim CHRO at large corporate and listed level.
It puts a fractional chief people officer retainer at £4,000–£12,000 a month.
We know of no published fractional CHRO day rate, so we do not quote one.
See CHRO salary for each figure with its source.
05/ comparison
Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim CHRO?
Four ways to fill the seat. Choose by how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.
06/ vetting
How we vet CHROs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CHRO 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 CHRO for rapid expansion
Hire a CHRO for rapid expansion: when, and which route
To hire a CHRO for rapid expansion, hire before the headcount arrives, not after.
The plain answer to how to hire a CHRO for rapid expansion is: start part-week, build the system, then hire full-time once running it is a full-time job.
The work is workforce planning first.
CIPD’s workforce planning factsheet describes it as getting the right number of people with the right skills in the right place at the right time, and ties it to the business plan.
Then structure.
CIPD’s organisation design factsheet defines it as aligning the shape and structure of an organisation with its strategy, which is what breaks first when a company grows quickly.
Signs the seat is needed now
New managers are leading teams with no training in how.
Pay is being set one offer at a time, so two people in the same job are on very different terms.
The founders are still handling every difficult conversation themselves.
Any one of those, with a hiring plan on top, is a reason to bring a senior people leader in before the next round of hires.
Which route at which stage
Early in the growth, a fractional CHRO for a day or two a week can build the plan, the pay framework and the hiring process.
If the first need is foundations rather than strategy, fractional head of people jobs show the level below.
Once the plan is running and the people agenda fills a week, hire permanently.
Ask candidates for evidence from a company that grew through the same stage, and references from the founders who saw it.
What has to hold at volume
Hiring fast multiplies the basics: a right to work check before every start date, written terms, and a fair process for every candidate.
A CHRO who has done this before will ask about all three in the first interview.
08/ permanent, fractional, part-time or interim CHRO
Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim CHRO: which route
Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim CHRO is the first decision, and it turns on two questions: how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.
A CHRO for hire on a day rate or retainer suits a defined job; a permanent CHRO suits a seat that needs an owner for years.
For a permanent seat, a CHRO headhunter approaches people who are not looking; chief people officer jobs show how other businesses frame the role.
A fractional CHRO works agreed days a week, often for more than one company.
To go that way, hire a fractional CHRO.
Can I hire a CHRO part time?
Yes, in two ways.
You can employ one for a fixed part of the week, and part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time staff; or you can engage a fractional CHRO through their own company.
An interim CHRO works full-time for a fixed term, usually through a restructure, an integration or a gap.
If you are working out how to hire an interim CHRO, that page sets out the role stage by stage, and interim CHRO jobs lists the interim roles on the board; most people who hire interim CHRO cover name the end point before the start date.
How do I hire a CHRO for a private equity portfolio company?
Start from the investment plan: integrating acquisitions, harmonising terms, building the management team for the exit.
When a business changes owner, its employees may be protected under TUPE, and their terms transfer with them, so look for a CHRO who has run a transfer before.
If the CHRO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.
Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, contract by contract, and a medium or large client makes the determination; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
09/ questions
Hire a CHRO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a CHRO.
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.
