HR director recruitment · HR director headhunter · Permanent and interim
HR director recruitment: how to hire an HR director
HR director recruitment starts with the seat: whether you need someone to run the HR function and sit on the leadership team, a CHRO to set people strategy at board level, or a head of HR to deliver the basics. To hire an HR director, settle that first, then run a structured search, test candidates on real people problems and check standing and references.
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary HR leaders. 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.
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
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a HR director
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with HR Director 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Live roles · last 3 months
Live HR leadership jobs
No live HR leadership roles in the last three months. Showing live fractional executive roles instead.
- FractionalSyndicated
Fractional CISO (Contract / Project Based)
Cambridge Spark · United Kingdom
est £1,500/day2 d/wk - FractionalSyndicated
Head of Medical Compliance, Governance & Diligence (Fractional)
CNX Therapeutics Ltd · Greater London
est £1,000/dayGreater London - FractionalSyndicated
Head of Applied Legal – AI Product (Fractional)
Stealth Startup · London
est £1,600/day2 d/wk - FractionalSyndicated
Fractional Product Practice Leader - 9 Month Contract
Tails.com · London
est £1,000/day2 d/wk - FractionalSyndicated
Fractional CPO
Log my Care · City of London
est £3,250/day3 d/wk - FractionalSyndicated
Fractional Finance Directors
PWF Associates Limited · Manchester
est £750/dayManchester - FractionalSyndicated
Fractional legal counsel
Nifina · London
est £750/dayLondon - FractionalExclusive
Fractional COO
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate n/aLondon - FractionalSyndicated
Fractional Financial Controller
MarcoPolo Learning · City of Westminster
est £750/day2 d/wk
Live HR leadership roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a HR Director brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
HR director recruitment: what the role is, and when you need one
An HR director runs the people function and is accountable for it on the leadership team. The usual scope: employee relations and the hard cases, reward and pay frameworks, policies and contracts, the HR system and people data, organisation design as the business changes, and the HR team itself. That is different from an HR manager, who runs the day-to-day processes, and from a CHRO, who sets people strategy at board level.
When a company needs an HR director
The usual triggers: the business has grown past the point where the founder or an HR manager can carry the people decisions; a restructure, acquisition or new site is coming; employee-relations cases are going wrong; or the law is changing faster than the handbook. Acas notes that the Employment Rights Act 2025 became law on 18 December 2025, with its changes arriving through 2026 and 2027. Keeping the business ahead of that is HR director work.
HR director or CHRO?
Hire an HR director when the job is to run the function well. Hire a CHRO or Chief People Officer when the job is people strategy in front of the board: succession, organisation design at scale, reward architecture. At a smaller company the titles overlap; choose by the work. For the C-suite appointment, see CHRO recruitment.
02/ scope
How to hire an HR director
1. Scope the seat before the search
Write down what the HR director will own, who they report to, whether they manage a team, and what the people function should look like in two years. A first HR director for a growing owner-managed business and a group HR director across several sites are different hires with different pay.
2. Choose the route: permanent, interim or fractional
A permanent HR director suits a business where running HR is a full-time job. If the seat is empty or a restructure needs full-time cover for a fixed term, hire an interim CHRO or HR director. If you need senior HR judgement for part of the week, hire a fractional HR director instead.
3. Run a structured search
Agree the pay band and the interview panel before the search starts. Write an advert that describes the job, not the person: GOV.UK warns against phrases like “highly experienced” unless they are real requirements, and says you may be breaking the law if discrimination happens during recruitment, even if you use an agency. The CIPD’s guidance on selection methods favours clear, objective, structured processes: the same questions for every candidate and decisions based on ability to do the role.
4. Assess against the level of the role
The CIPD Profession Map levels give a yardstick, from Associate (operational work with some complexity) to Chartered Member (thinking strategically and driving people change) and Chartered Fellow (long-term value through strategic business insight). CIPD membership levels follow them: Chartered MCIPD and Chartered FCIPD are the usual grades for an HR director. Then test the work: a real case from your business (a grievance, a restructure proposal, a pay review) and references from chief executives the candidate worked for.
5. Run the checks before the offer
You must check a job applicant’s right to work before you employ them; an employer that has not carried out a correct check could face a civil penalty. Handle candidate data in line with the ICO’s recruitment and selection guidance, which covers employers and head-hunters alike.
What we do on an HR director brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
03/ comparison
HR director vs CHRO vs head of HR
Three HR leadership seats. Choose by what the person will own and who they answer to.
04/ vetting
How we vet HR directors
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify HR Director 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
05/ hr director headhunter
HR director headhunter: what to check before you sign
An HR director headhunter finds and approaches HR leaders, including people who are not looking, and brings you a shortlist. The same law covers them as any recruitment agency. GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations says the Employment Agencies Act applies to executive search consultants, that agencies may not charge workers for finding them work, and that the Act does not regulate what agencies charge you, the hirer: that is a commercial agreement between you and the firm.
Before you sign, get the terms in writing: what you pay, when it falls due, and what happens if the appointment does not work out. Ask who runs the search day to day, how candidates are assessed, and whether the firm takes references itself. An HR director candidate will judge your hiring process as closely as you judge theirs; a disorganised search costs you the best ones.
What we undertake: a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and five-stage vetting. For a board-level people appointment, see CHRO headhunter.
06/ contract hr directors
Hiring an HR director on contract
If the HR director will work through their own company, as an interim or fractional one often does, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. In most cases the client decides the worker’s status; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides. Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
For part-week HR leadership across every title, see the fractional CHRO hub.
07/ questions
HR director recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a HR director.
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.
