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part-time executive recruitment

Hire a Part-Time Chief Product Officer

Hire a Part-Time Chief Product Officer: design a continuing employed product leadership seat for fewer hours, with product decisions, meeting access and cover made explicit.

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

Part 01 / 04

Employment

Define the continuing product leadership role, hours, reporting line and employment terms.

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

Define the continuing product leadership role, hours, reporting line and employment terms.

EmploymentDefine the continuing product leadership role, hours, reporting line and employment terms.
Product remitName the portfolio, roadmap and team decisions the employee will own.
Meeting accessPlace key product and leadership decisions within agreed working hours where possible.
CoverName who handles urgent customer or product decisions outside the working pattern.

Role reference: Acas: part-time workers’ rights. Acas explains part-time employment and protection from less favourable treatment compared with a comparable full-time worker.

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

Part-time describes the employee’s working hours. A part-time Chief Product Officer still needs a continuing mandate, fair employment terms and a workable route for decisions 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 · a company with a steady part-week product remit

Product managers can handle daily delivery, but the company needs a continuing executive owner for portfolio choices on fewer than full-time hours.

The employed part-time Chief Product Officer chairs product reviews and settles priorities on agreed days.

The appointment owns

The employed part-time Chief Product Officer chairs product reviews and settles priorities on agreed days.

Another owner retains

A named product lead handles urgent issues outside those hours; engineering and commercial leaders keep their own decisions.

How should you assess Chief Product 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

Working rhythm

Ask how the candidate keeps roadmap decisions and team direction clear between working days.

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 Product 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 Product Officer hiring brief →

What must happen before the Chief Product Officer starts?

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

A clear startChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Contract

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

    Contract

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

  2. 2

    Access

    Provide research, roadmap, economics, product-team contacts and decision history.

  3. 3

    Cover

    Introduce the owner of urgent product questions outside agreed hours.

  4. 4

    First cycle

    Run a product review and inspect what crossed a non-working day.

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

What should the brief say?

Hire a Part-Time Chief Product Officer 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 Chief Product 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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