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Interim interim manager · hiring brief

Hire an Interim Manager

Hire an Interim Manager: define the assignment and its outcome, give the interim the authority to deliver it, and agree the exit and handover before they start.

Brief us on this role →How it works

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 Manager: leadership meeting in a Covent Garden office (illustration)

In the press

The brief

Hire an Interim Manager: what must the role own?

Vacancy cover, change programme, turnaround or integration.

  • 01AssignmentVacancy cover, change programme, turnaround or integration.
  • 02OutcomeWhat must be true at the end.
  • 03AuthorityDecisions and budget they hold.
  • 04ExitEnd date and successor.

Role reference: Institute of Interim Management: guide to interim management. The Institute of Interim Management describes interim managers as independent executives on finite assignments who deliver and exit after a handover.

Interim

Hire an interim manager or a temp?

Interim management is for change; temporary staffing is for capacity.

Hire an interim manager when an outcome must be delivered by someone senior who will leave afterwards. Hire temporary staff when you need hands for a period.

Interim managers are often available at short notice because they move between assignments, but we do not promise a start date.

The working pattern

What changes when the interim manager is interim?

An interim manager is an independent senior executive engaged full-time for a finite assignment, who delivers change and leaves after a handover. They are not a temporary worker filling a seat indefinitely.

The illustrative brief: a factory after its operations director left. The operations director left during a site consolidation.

The appointment owns: An interim manager runs operations and completes the consolidation over six months.

Another owner retains: The MD keeps headcount decisions; the board appoints the permanent director.

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

From brief to start

How do you hire an Interim Manager, step by step?

Hire an Interim Manager, 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 interim manager 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
    Terms of reference
    Outcome, authority, dates.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Information
    Plans, budgets and people data.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Introductions
    Team and stakeholders.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Plan
    A thirty-day plan.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess each candidate?

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

  1. Comparable work
    Ask for an assignment like yours and the outcome.
  2. Authority
    Test a decision beyond their authority.
  3. Team
    Ask how they led a team they inherited.
  4. Handover
    Ask how they handed over.

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 Manager: questions, answered

A brief to hire an Interim Manager begins with assignment: Vacancy cover, change programme, turnaround or integration. 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?

  • iim.org.uk
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    Institute of Interim Management: guide to interim management iim.org.uk
  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.

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