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Fractional CTO · hiring brief

Hire a Fractional CTO in London

Hire a Fractional CTO in London: agree which days are in the office, the technical decisions the CTO owns and the cover between days, then test candidates on your own systems.

Brief us on this role →See CTO roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 5 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire a Fractional CTO in London: a technology leader taking a founder through a product roadmap (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which CTO roles are on the board?

Fractional CTO roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

In the press

The brief

Hire a Fractional CTO in London: what must the role own?

Say which days or meetings need the CTO in London.

  • 01On-site daysSay which days or meetings need the CTO in London.
  • 02DecisionsList the architecture and team decisions they own.
  • 03CoverName who handles incidents between days.
  • 04ReviewSet the review point.

Role reference: SFIA leadership responsibilities. SFIA describes senior technology leadership responsibility, which a fractional CTO in London should be given on their days.

The working pattern

What changes when the CTO is fractional?

A fractional CTO in London works agreed days, often split between your office and remote. The brief should say which decisions need them in the room.

The illustrative brief: a London fintech before an audit. A regulated product needs a senior technology owner for security and resilience before a client audit.

The appointment owns: The fractional CTO owns the security plan and audit evidence, two days a week, one in the office.

Another owner retains: The engineering lead runs delivery; the CEO owns the client relationship.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire a Fractional CTO in London, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the CTO must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Mandate
    Write decisions, days and on-site pattern.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Access
    Provide architecture and security records.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Cover
    Name the incident lead.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    First review
    Ask for a risk view in two weeks.
    You

Your figures

What does part of a CTO’s week cost?

Rate × days × weeks, against a loaded full-time package. Move the sliders; the numbers redraw.

  • CTO band £1,000–£1,600 (Leadership Services 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£119,600
2 days a week · 46 weeks · day fees, before tax · our arithmetic
Fractional executive£119,600
Full-time CTO, loaded£183,825£836 a day over 220 days · our arithmetic
Fractional costs less in year one by£64,225

Our arithmetic. £160,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £183,825. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.

Assessment

How should you assess CTO candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Comparable decision
    Ask for a regulated or audited system they owned.
  2. Authority
    Test a security decision needing board sign-off.
  3. Team
    Ask how they led an engineering lead.
  4. Handover
    Ask what they left after an engagement.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

Questions

Hire a Fractional CTO in London: questions, answered

A brief to hire a Fractional CTO in London begins with on-site days: Say which days or meetings need the CTO in London. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • sfia-online.org
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    SFIA leadership responsibilities sfia-online.org
  2. 2
    Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRC
    Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
  3. 3
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  4. 4
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  5. 5
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

Sign up now →Book a call

  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room