How to hire a part-time COO · part-time COO or fractional COO · a part-time operations manager instead

Hire a Part-Time COO · employed or contracted

To hire a part-time COO, decide two things first: how many days a week the operations seat needs, and whether you will employ the person on a part-time contract or engage them as a contractor on a day rate.

The first sets the budget; the second sets the paperwork, the tax and who decides IR35.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Brief us on a part-time COO →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

In the press

Financial Times The executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance (paywall)
Read it before you choose between employing a part-time COO and contracting one. It sets out why senior people are choosing to work for several businesses at once, and what that means for the businesses that engage them.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£800–£1,400

Fractional COO day rate · published band, 2026

Connectd, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a part-time COO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with part-time COO candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

Part-time and fractional COO jobs on the board

3 on the board · 2 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Current part-time and fractional operations roles

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a part-time COO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

Hire a part-time COO: the decision before the search

A part-time COO owns how the business runs, for a fixed share of the week.

The job is the same as a full-time one; what changes is how much of it one person can carry, and on what terms.

Most people who search "hire a part time COO" have one of two arrangements in mind.

One is an employee on a part-time contract; the other is a contractor who invoices for agreed days.

Three questions settle it

How many days does the work need, and are they the same days every week?

Do you want the person in your team, on your payroll and your policies, or working for you alongside other clients?

And how long is the need: a standing seat reviewed each quarter, or a defined piece of work with an end?

A standing seat leans towards employment; a defined piece of work leans towards a contract.

For what one or two days a week buys, and the cost arithmetic, see our guide to the part-time COO.

02/ scope

How to hire a part-time COO: the steps

1. Fix the days and the outcome

Write down which days, what the person owns on them, and what should be different after six and twelve months.

A part-week seat fails most often because nobody agreed what waits for the next day in.

2. Choose employed or contracted

The section below sets out the difference.

Decide before the search, because it changes who you can approach: many experienced operators work only on contract, and some want a part-time post.

3. Test on a part-week problem

Give every candidate the same task: one process that is failing, what they would change in their first four working days, and what they would leave for later.

Score the answers against criteria agreed in advance.

4. Put the right paperwork in place

Employed: a written contract with pro rata pay and holiday, and workplace pension enrolment if they are eligible.

Contracted: a contract for services that says what is delivered, and an IR35 status decision before the start.

HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool gives its view of a specific engagement, and HMRC stands by the result while the information you gave stays accurate.

What we do on every brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ economics

What a part-time COO costs on each route

No source we can cite publishes a part-time COO rate or salary.

The nearest published figures are these, each named.

Contracted: Connectd, a fractional marketplace, publishes £800–£1,400 a day for a fractional COO, with the mid-market at £900–£1,050.

Multiply by the days a week you agreed.

Where IR35 does not apply, you pay no employer National Insurance or pension on top of the invoice.

Employed: the salary is pro rata to a full-time one.

Glassdoor puts the full-time COO median at £137,834, as Exec Capital’s 2026 COO salary guide reports; employer National Insurance then adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27), before pension.

For the monthly arithmetic at one to three days a week, see fractional COO cost.

04/ comparison

Employed, contracted or a smaller seat?

Three ways to put senior operations into part of the week. Choose by the terms you want and the size of the gap.

Part-time COO, employedFractional COO, contractedPart-time operations manager

ContractContract of employment for fixed daysContract for services, usually through their own companyEither; usually employed

PaidPro rata salary through PAYE, plus employer NI and pensionA day rate on invoice; Connectd publishes £800–£1,400 for a fractional COOBelow a COO, set out on each shortlist

OwnsThe operating model, on your teamThe operating model, alongside other clientsOne function day to day, under someone who owns the model

IR35Not relevant: on payrollDecided by how the engagement runsOn payroll if employed

05/ vetting

How we vet part-time COOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify part-time COO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

06/ part-time COO or fractional COO

Part-time COO or fractional COO: employed or contracted

Part-time COO or fractional COO is mostly a question of terms, not of days.

A part-time COO is usually your employee for fixed days; a fractional COO is usually a contractor who sells you agreed days and works for other businesses too.

An employed part-timer has the same rights as a comparable full-time employee, pro rata: pay, pension, holiday and training.

Acas explains the comparator test under the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000.

A contractor is not paid through PAYE, invoices for the work and works under a contract for services; GOV.UK’s employment status guide says to check status in both tax law and employment law.

Want to hire a fractional COO for scaling operations?

That is the contracted route, and our fractional COO jobs page sets out scope and how we vet.

If the COO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

A medium or large client makes the determination; HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out the size tests, and a small private-sector client leaves it to the worker’s company.

Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

The rules on this page are UK rules.

If you are looking for the best place to hire a part-time COO in New York, start with US sources, because payroll, contractor status and benefits work differently there.

07/ a part-time operations manager instead

Hire a part-time operations manager instead?

Sometimes the gap is below COO level.

If the operating model works but nobody runs the day-to-day (orders out, suppliers chased, the team scheduled), hire a part-time operations manager and keep the money a COO would cost.

The test is ownership.

A COO decides how the business runs and measures it; an operations manager runs one part of it well.

If nobody senior owns the model, a manager will be left guessing; if somebody does, a COO will be left with too little to do.

A search for "hire a part time operations manager" brings up roles across many sectors and levels, so write the scope before the title.

A fractional operations manager covers the same ground on contract; fractional operations manager jobs shows how other businesses frame it.

One step up is a head of operations: a senior seat that runs operations without owning the whole model.

Head of operations jobs shows that level.

08/ questions

Hire a part-time COO FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a part-time COO.

Fix the days and what should change in a year, then choose employed or contracted. Test every candidate on the same part-week problem, and put the right paperwork in place: a contract of employment and pension enrolment, or a contract for services and an IR35 decision.

No source we can cite publishes a part-time COO rate. Contracted, Connectd publishes £800–£1,400 a day for a fractional COO. Employed, the salary is pro rata to a full-time one (Glassdoor’s full-time median is £137,834, as Exec Capital reports), with employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Four: fix the days and the outcome, choose employed or contracted, test candidates on a part-week problem, then put the contract, pension or IR35 paperwork in place before the start. The first step is the one most often skipped.

Employ a part-time COO when you want the person on your team, on fixed days, for the long run; they get the same rights as a full-time employee, pro rata. Contract a fractional COO when you want agreed days from someone who also works for other businesses, paid on invoice.

When the operating model works but the day-to-day needs running. A COO owns how the whole business runs; an operations manager runs one part of it. If nobody senior owns the model, start with the COO.

Not if they are your employee on payroll. If they work through their own company, it can: a medium or large client makes the status determination, and a small private-sector client leaves it to the worker’s company (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

If employed, yes, pro rata: part-time workers should be treated no less favourably than a comparable full-time worker on pay, pension, holiday and training (GOV.UK). A contractor on a day rate does not get holiday or sick pay from you.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief