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part-time executive recruitment

Hire Part-Time Chief Data Officer

Hire Part-Time Chief Data Officer: create a continuing employed data-leadership seat with fewer hours, clear decision rights and cover for urgent data issues.

Brief us on this role →
Chief Data Officer briefChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Continuing remit

Define the data strategy, quality and governance work the employee will own.

Hire Part-Time Chief Data Officer: what must the role own?

Define the data strategy, quality and governance work the employee will own.

Continuing remitDefine the data strategy, quality and governance work the employee will own.
Hours and forumsPlace critical data decisions and executive reviews within agreed hours where possible.
Team leadershipName the analysts, engineers and stewards the executive will lead.
Outside-hours coverGive another owner authority for urgent data access, quality or privacy issues.

Role reference: Acas guidance on part-time workers. Acas explains reduced-hours employment and protection from less favourable treatment. The organisation must still name who handles data decisions when its part-time executive is away.

What changes when the Chief Data Officer is part-time?

Part-time describes employed hours, not a finite project. The Chief Data Officer still owns an ongoing data strategy and team, while the organisation needs someone authorised to act outside those hours.

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 · an established analytics team needing an executive owner

The team can deliver daily work, but data policy and cross-company priorities have no continuing executive owner. The required hours fit a reduced week.

The part-time Chief Data Officer leads the team and owns an ongoing data plan and governance decisions.

The appointment owns

The part-time Chief Data Officer leads the team and owns an ongoing data plan and governance decisions.

Another owner retains

The team lead keeps daily delivery moving; a named privacy or technology lead handles urgent issues outside the executive hours.

How should you assess Chief Data Officer 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

Continuity

Ask how the candidate has kept a data programme moving across a reduced working week.

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 Chief Data Officer

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

Read the part-time Chief Data Officer hiring brief →

What must happen before the Chief Data Officer starts?

Confirm employed hours, reporting line and the continuing remit.

A clear startChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Contract

Confirm employed hours, reporting line and the continuing remit.
  1. 1

    Contract

    Confirm employed hours, reporting line and the continuing remit.

  2. 2

    Calendar

    Set governance and leadership meetings within the agreed pattern.

  3. 3

    Cover

    Write down who can decide on urgent data matters outside those hours.

  4. 4

    First review

    Review whether the hours and delegation support the data team and its decisions.

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

What should the brief say?

Hire Part-Time Chief Data Officer begins with continuing remit, a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

15 minutes · video or phone

Brief us on a Chief Data Officer

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.
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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
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room
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