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Interim head of SEO · hiring brief

Hire an Interim Head of SEO

Hire an Interim Head of SEO: name the search outcome (a migration, a recovery, a gap in the team), give the interim authority over the changes it needs, and agree the handover.

Brief us on this role →See head of SEO roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 1 November 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire an Interim Head of SEO: leadership meeting in a Covent Garden office (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which roles are on the board now?

Interim head of SEO roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

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In the press

The brief

Hire an Interim Head of SEO: what must the role own?

Migration, traffic recovery, international expansion or cover.

  • 01OutcomeMigration, traffic recovery, international expansion or cover.
  • 02ChangesSite, content and technical changes they can request or approve.
  • 03TeamSEO specialists, writers and developers involved.
  • 04MeasuresWhat will be measured, from which data.

Role reference: Google Search Central: SEO starter guide. Google’s SEO starter guide sets out the fundamentals an interim head of SEO is expected to apply and explain to non-specialists.

Interim SEO

Hire an interim head of SEO or an agency?

An agency gives capacity; an interim gives an owner.

Hire an interim head of SEO when the work needs someone inside the team who can make engineering and content teams move. Use an agency for volume work an owner directs.

Search results take time to change; agree how progress will be judged before the interim starts.

The working pattern

What changes when the head of SEO is interim?

An interim head of SEO leads search strategy and the SEO team for a defined period. The work depends on engineering and content teams, so authority over their time matters more than the title.

The illustrative brief: a site migration without an SEO lead. An e-commerce business is moving platforms in four months and its head of SEO has left.

The appointment owns: An interim head of SEO owns redirects, testing and the post-launch watch.

Another owner retains: Engineering owns the platform build; the CMO owns the launch date.

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

From brief to start

How do you hire an Interim Head of SEO, step by step?

Hire an Interim Head of SEO, 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 SEO 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
    Access
    Search Console, analytics and the CMS.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Plan
    Launch plan and dependencies.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Team
    Introduce engineering and content leads.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Baseline
    Agree the baseline measures in week one.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess each candidate?

Hire an Interim Head of SEO on evidence: put the same work in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Comparable work
    Ask for a migration or recovery they led and what they personally decided.
  2. Authority
    Test a request to delay launch for SEO reasons.
  3. Team
    Ask how they worked with developers.
  4. Handover
    Ask what documentation they left.

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.

Questions

Hire an Interim Head of SEO: questions, answered

A brief to hire an Interim Head of SEO begins with outcome: Migration, traffic recovery, international expansion or cover. 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?

  • developers.google.com
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    Google Search Central: SEO starter guide developers.google.com
  2. 2
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  3. 3
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  4. 4
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

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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