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Permanent head of finance · hiring brief

Hire a Head of Finance

Hire a Head of Finance: decide whether the seat is board-level or not, write the team and reporting the head of finance owns, and test them on your own accounts.

Brief us on this role →See head of finance roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 1 November 2026 · 5 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire a Head of Finance: a finance leader reviewing a board pack with a finance manager (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which roles are on the board now?

Permanent head of finance 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 Head of Finance: what must the role own?

The finance staff they lead.

  • 01TeamThe finance staff they lead.
  • 02ReportingManagement accounts and board pack.
  • 03ControlsApprovals and audit.
  • 04LineReport to the CEO or a CFO.

Role reference: ICAEW: finance career paths. ICAEW’s finance career paths describe finance leadership roles, including heads of finance and finance directors.

Titles

Hire a head of finance or a finance director?

Mostly a question of board responsibility.

Hire a head of finance when you need a leader of the finance team who reports to the CEO or CFO. Use the finance director title when the role carries board accountability.

Either way, the brief should say what they own, not rely on the title.

The working pattern

What changes when the head of finance is permanent?

A head of finance leads the finance function, often without a board seat. The same seat may be called finance director where it carries board responsibility.

The illustrative brief: a business with a finance team but no leader. Three finance staff report to the CEO, who has no finance background.

The appointment owns: The company hires a head of finance to lead them and the board pack.

Another owner retains: The CEO and board keep funding decisions.

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

From brief to start

How do you hire a Head of Finance, step by step?

Hire a Head of Finance, in practice: 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 head of finance 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
    Scope
    Team, reporting line, review date.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Data
    Accounts and forecasts.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Team
    Meet each team member.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    First pack
    Own the next board pack.
    You

Your figures

What does part of a senior week cost?

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

  • head of finance band £600–£1,000 (FD Capital 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£73,600
2 days a week · 46 weeks · day fees, before tax · our arithmetic
Fractional executive£73,600
Full-time head of finance, loaded£125,175£569 a day over 220 days · our arithmetic
Fractional costs less in year one by£51,575

Our arithmetic. £109,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £125,175. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.

Assessment

How should you assess each candidate?

Hire a Head of Finance on evidence: put the same work in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Comparable work
    Ask for a finance team they led and what improved.
  2. Authority
    Test a board-level decision they would escalate.
  3. Team
    Ask how they developed staff.
  4. Handover
    Ask what they left documented.

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 Head of Finance: questions, answered

A brief to hire a Head of Finance begins with team: The finance staff they lead. 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?

  • icaew.com
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    ICAEW: finance career paths icaew.com
  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

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  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
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