FractionalQuestAsk about this roleSign inBook a call

part-time executive recruitment

Hire a Part-Time CEO

Hire a Part-Time CEO: design a continuing employed chief executive seat for fewer hours, with board access, delegated authority and cover outside the working pattern.

Brief us on this role →
CEO briefChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Employment

Define the continuing CEO duties, hours, reporting line and employed terms.

Hire a Part-Time CEO: what must the role own?

Define the continuing CEO duties, hours, reporting line and employed terms.

EmploymentDefine the continuing CEO duties, hours, reporting line and employed terms.
Board accessPlan board and leadership decisions around the agreed working days where possible.
DelegationState what the CEO decides and what remains reserved to the board or chair.
Urgent coverName the executive who can act on time-sensitive matters outside the CEO’s hours.

Role reference: Acas: part-time workers’ rights. Acas explains that part-time employment means fewer hours than a comparable full-time worker and that part-time workers are protected from less favourable treatment.

What changes when the CEO is part-time?

Part-time describes the employee’s hours, not a temporary mandate or an external fractional contract. The chief executive keeps a continuing company-wide responsibility, and the board must make the reduced-hours pattern workable.

part-timeChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Employment

Define the employed part-time role and its continuing responsibilities.

How would this work in a real brief?

The hiring decision becomes clearer when the work and its boundary are written down together.

Illustrative brief · a company with a stable reduced-hours chief executive need

The board needs a continuing chief executive, while an established management team can run daily operations and the intended seat does not fill a full week.

The employed part-time CEO leads scheduled board and senior-team decisions and owns the continuing operating plan.

The appointment owns

The employed part-time CEO leads scheduled board and senior-team decisions and owns the continuing operating plan.

Another owner retains

A named operations executive handles urgent issues outside agreed hours; the chair and board retain reserved decisions.

How should you assess CEO candidates?

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

The evidenceChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Hours and authority

Ask how the candidate would arrange board, team and customer decisions within the proposed schedule.

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

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

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

How much of the week does the work fill?
Is this a defined assignment with an end?
For a continuing part-week role, is this an employee?

The working pattern · part-time

A part-time CEO

An employee holds a continuing seat for fewer hours. Agree the schedule, employment terms and cover outside working hours.

Read the part-time CEO hiring brief →

What must happen before the CEO starts?

Agree hours, working days, employed terms and reporting line.

A clear startChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Contract

Agree hours, working days, employed terms and reporting line.
  1. 1

    Contract

    Agree hours, working days, employed terms and reporting line.

  2. 2

    Board calendar

    Place essential board and leadership meetings within the agreed pattern.

  3. 3

    Cover

    Introduce the named owner of urgent decisions outside the CEO’s hours.

  4. 4

    First cycle

    Review a decision that crossed a non-working day and adjust the cover route if needed.

A useful CEO brief names the decision, the working pattern and the evidence before it names a candidate.

What should the brief say?

Hire a Part-Time CEO begins with employment, a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

15 minutes · video or phone

Brief us on a CEO

Tell us what the role must own, how it will work and when it must start.

  1. 01A brief built around the decisions and working pattern.
  2. 02A shortlist of 3–5 with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  3. 03Five-stage vetting before a candidate reaches you.
Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

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
Fractional Quest logo — how to hire a part-time CEO, hire a part-time CEO