Interim CEO · Interim chief executive · Interim managing director
Interim CEO · what one does, how long, what it costs
An interim CEO is a chief executive appointed by the board for a fixed term, full-time and with full executive authority, to lead the company through a departure, a turnaround, a sale or a founder’s exit until the permanent answer is in place. They run the business; they do not advise it.
This page sets out what an interim CEO does, how long one stays and what one costs, from published sources. To hire an interim CEO, or to browse interim CEO jobs, go to our interim CEO hub. We recruit interim, fractional, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and send a shortlist of 3–5 on every brief.
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 an interim CEO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CEO 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
On the board · last 3 months
Interim CEO jobs on the board
Current interim and fractional CEO roles
Fractional recruitment works differently from a permanent search — shorter, scoped by days a week, and priced on the engagement. Send a CEO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
What is an interim CEO? A board mandate with an end date
An interim CEO holds the chief executive’s authority for a defined period. The board sets the mandate, the interim runs the leadership team and the plan, and the term ends with a handover. The Institute of Interim Management describes interim managers as independent executives working at board or near-board level over a finite time span, usually through their own limited company, who take responsibility for results rather than offering advice.
What one does across the mandate
The IIM’s guide describes five stages: entry, diagnosis, proposal, implementation and exit. For a chief executive, diagnosis means the cash, the people and the customers in the first weeks: what is true, what the board has been told, who the business depends on. The proposal is a plan the board signs off and holds the interim to. Implementation is the term itself. Exit is a handover to the permanent CEO, often with the interim helping the board run that search.
Director or not
Most interim chief executives join the board, because running the company means taking the decisions a board delegates. Companies House guidance is plain that a director’s duties under the Companies Act 2006 still apply to someone who acts as a director without being formally appointed, so make the position clear at the start. For listed companies, the UK Corporate Governance Code applies on a comply-or-explain basis, and the board’s choices on the interim arrangement should sit within it.
02/ scope
How to hire an interim CEO
Agree the mandate at board level first: what must be true when the interim leaves, and by when. Then look for someone who has handled the same situation, and take references from the chairs and investors of their recent assignments. The IIM’s guide advises against interviewing an interim as if they were a candidate for the permanent job: the conversation is about the situation and their plan for it.
Our interim CEO hub covers the hiring process, the board appointment and the jobs board. For the permanent seat, see the CEO job description; for a charity, charity CEO recruitment. We send a shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
03/ comparison
Interim CEO vs fractional CEO vs permanent
The same seat, filled three ways. Choose by whether the company needs running full-time and whether the need has an end date.
04/ timing
When to hire an interim CEO
Four situations where a board needs the company run full-time for a period, and what each should leave behind.
Scenario 01
A departure
Staff, customers and lenders need a named leader now, and a rushed permanent hire is the costly mistake. The interim steadies the business and buys the board time to search properly.
Scenario 02
A turnaround
The Insolvency Service’s company health check sets out the cash flow and balance sheet tests. If the company may be insolvent, directors’ duties shift towards creditors, and the interim needs to have led a board through that before.
Scenario 03
A sale
A sale process or a private equity owner’s first months need a chief executive who has done it, and who has no stake in staying afterwards.
Scenario 04
A founder steps back
The founder moves to the chair or out, and the company needs a professional chief executive for a period before the long-term choice is made.
05/ vetting
How we vet interim CEOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CEO 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/ interim ceo
Interim CEO: how long one stays, and what one costs
No source publishes an average term for interim chief executives alone. Across every discipline, the IIM Interim Management Survey 2026 puts the average assignment at 10.0 months and the average interim day rate at £907, or £1,004 in the private sector. Those are all-discipline averages, not a CEO rate; the chief executive’s seat sits well above them.
For the CEO seat itself, the published figures come from recruiters’ own guides. Exec Capital publishes an interim CEO band of £1,000–£3,500 a day: £1,000–£1,800 for SME and mid-market mandates, £1,800–£3,500 for complex listed or PE-backed work, and £3,500 and above for turnaround specialists. FD Capital publishes £1,200–£2,500 a day for a full-time interim CEO. Exec Capital puts a permanent SME chief executive’s base at £120,000–£250,000.
The total is the day rate times the days worked, with no employment cost after the term. Complexity sets the rate more than company size. For permanent, fractional and interim pay side by side, see CEO salary; for what the permanent role covers, what a CEO does.
07/ interim managing director
Interim managing director: the same seat under another title
Many owner-managed businesses and subsidiaries call their top executive the managing director rather than the chief executive. An interim managing director is the same brief under that title: full-time, for a fixed term, running the business through a gap, a turnaround or a sale. In a subsidiary, the interim MD usually answers to a group CEO or a parent board rather than to investors.
Brief the work, not the title. Say who the interim reports to, what they can decide alone, and what must be in place when they leave. Board and general management is one of the main disciplines in the IIM’s 2026 survey. For the finance seat alongside, see hiring an interim CFO; for every interim seat, interim executive recruitment.
08/ ir35
IR35 and the interim chief executive
Most interim chief executives work through their own company, so the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply, and a statutory directorship needs particular care. In most cases the client decides the status; for a small client outside the public sector, the interim’s own company decides (HMRC guidance for clients). Status turns on how the assignment runs in practice. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
09/ questions
Interim CEO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in an interim CEO.
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.
