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Fractional VP of Engineering · hiring brief

Hire a Fractional VP of Engineering

Hire a Fractional VP of Engineering: name the delivery and team problems the VP of Engineering must fix, separate them from the CTO’s architecture remit, and agree the days and cover.

Brief us on this role →How it works

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire a Fractional VP of Engineering: leadership meeting in a Covent Garden office (illustration)

In the press

The brief

Hire a Fractional VP of Engineering: what must the role own?

Name what is slow or unreliable in delivery.

  • 01DeliveryName what is slow or unreliable in delivery.
  • 02HiringSet the hiring plan they own.
  • 03ManagersName the engineering managers they lead.
  • 04BoundarySeparate their remit from the CTO’s.

Role reference: SFIA leadership responsibilities. SFIA describes leadership responsibility by decisions and accountability, which separates a VP of Engineering’s remit from a CTO’s.

Across Europe

Hire a fractional VP of Engineering across time zones

Teams spread across Europe need a VP of Engineering whose days overlap with theirs.

Agree which time zone the VP works to and which meetings need them live. For a team across Europe, the contract and tax position depend on where the VP works and how; settle it before the offer.

The working pattern

What changes when the VP of Engineering is fractional?

A VP of Engineering runs the engineering organisation: delivery, hiring, process and managers. A CTO owns technology direction. A fractional VP of Engineering does the first on agreed days.

The illustrative brief: a team that doubled in a year. Engineering grew from ten to twenty and releases slowed; the CTO spends their time on process instead of architecture.

The appointment owns: The fractional VP of Engineering owns delivery process, hiring and the managers, two days a week.

Another owner retains: The CTO keeps architecture and technical strategy.

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

From brief to start

How do you hire a Fractional VP of Engineering, 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 VP of Engineering 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 delivery goals, hiring authority and days.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Data
    Provide delivery metrics, incidents and structure.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Managers
    Introduce the engineering managers.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Cadence
    Set the delivery review on their days.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess VP of Engineering candidates?

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

  1. Comparable decision
    Ask for a delivery problem they fixed and how they measured it.
  2. Authority
    Test a decision that belongs to the CTO.
  3. Team
    Ask how they developed engineering managers.
  4. Handover
    Ask what they left when they moved on.

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 VP of Engineering: questions, answered

A brief to hire a Fractional VP of Engineering begins with delivery: Name what is slow or unreliable in delivery. 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
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  3. 3
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  4. 4
    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