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Fractional HR Manager · hiring brief

Hire a Fractional HR Manager

Hire a Fractional HR Manager: set the policies, employee relations and hiring work the HR manager covers, and how urgent cases are handled between days.

Brief us on this role →How it works

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire a Fractional HR Manager: leadership meeting in a Covent Garden office (illustration)

In the press

The brief

Hire a Fractional HR Manager: what must the role own?

Name policies to write or update.

  • 01PoliciesName policies to write or update.
  • 02CasesSet employee relations work.
  • 03HiringSay what hiring support they give.
  • 04EscalationName who handles urgent cases.

Role reference: CIPD Profession Map. The CIPD Profession Map sets standards for HR practice at manager level.

The working pattern

What changes when the HR Manager is fractional?

A fractional HR manager runs HR practice on agreed days; a fractional CHRO owns people strategy.

The illustrative brief: a 40-person company with no HR. Managers handle HR inconsistently.

The appointment owns: The fractional HR manager sets policies and handles cases, one day a week.

Another owner retains: The MD makes final decisions on dismissals.

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

From brief to start

How do you hire a Fractional HR Manager, step by step?

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 HR 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
    Mandate
    Write remit and days.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Records
    Provide contracts and policies.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Managers
    Introduce managers.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Review
    Review after a month.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess HR Manager candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Cases
    Ask for a case they handled fairly.
  2. Policy
    Ask for a policy they wrote.
  3. Standards
    Check CIPD level.
  4. Escalation
    Test an urgent case on a day off.

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 a Fractional HR Manager: questions, answered

A brief to hire a Fractional HR Manager begins with policies: Name policies to write or update. 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?

  • cipd.org
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    CIPD Profession Map cipd.org
  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