Hire an Interim CHRO · Interim HR Director Jobs UK
Interim CHRO Jobs · hire interim CHRO
for the gap, or hire CHRO
Hire an interim CHRO or interim HR Director — full-time people leadership on a fixed-term assignment — for a restructure, a TUPE transfer, a post-deal integration or cover through a vacancy. Also searched as interim Chief People Officer. Or browse live interim HR leadership jobs below.
- £500–£1,800 a day (Exec Capital)
- Full-time, fixed-term
- HR Director to CHRO
- Shortlist of 3–5
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 CHRO
Tell us the situation and the start date. We come back with interim CHRO candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the assignment and the start date
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Interim CHRO jobs · last 3 months
Live Interim CHRO jobs
No live Interim CHRO roles right now.
We only show real, verified vacancies from the last three months — we never pad the board with fabricated listings. New Interim CHRO roles appear here as our pipeline finds them.
01/ definition
What is an interim CHRO?
An interim CHRO — or interim HR Director, or interim Chief People Officer — leads the people function full-time for a fixed term. Not an HR consultancy and not a part-time fractional CHRO: the person accountable for people risk and the people plan until the job is done.
01 · cadence
The CHRO seat, five days a week.
An interim CHRO takes the role in full — the people plan, employee relations, reward and the HR team — rather than advising from outside it.
02/ scope
What an interim HR Director or CHRO owns
The interim carries people accountability for the term; HR business partners and operations keep the casework.
- People strategy and plan
- Organisation design and restructuring
- Consultation, TUPE and redundancy process
- Employee relations and risk
- Reward and pay frameworks
- Culture and engagement through change
- Board and remuneration committee reporting
- Handover to the permanent CHRO
- Individual casework
- Payroll processing
- Recruitment administration
- Onboarding logistics
- HRIS data entry
- Training delivery
03/ alternatives
Interim CHRO vs fractional, HR consultancy and permanent
The same seat, four ways of filling it.
→ Interim covers the whole seat for a period; fractional covers part of it indefinitely.
04/ rates
Interim CHRO and HR Director day rates, UK 2026
Published figures only, each with its source. The mandate sets the rate: steady-state cover at the bottom, transformation in the middle, listed-company CHRO at the top.
- Steady-state cover£500–£750Exec Capital
- Transformation brief£750–£1,100Exec Capital
- Contract CHRO, London£900–£1,500Robert Walters
- Listed / large CHRO£1,100–£1,800Exec Capital
Six months full-time (about 130 working days) is roughly £65,000–£97,500 for steady-state cover and £97,500–£143,000 for a transformation brief — our arithmetic on the Exec Capital bands.
05/ calculator
What an interim CHRO costs
Model a fixed-term interim CHRO against a permanent Chief HR Officer over the same period.
£925 a day is within the published Transformation band (£750–£1,100, Exec Capital).
Interim cost for the term
£120,250
130 working days · 5 d/wk · 6 mo · before tax
Interim costs more over 6 months£23,781
Book a 15-minute call →Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £110,250 median HR Director salary (Robert Half) pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.
06/ tax
Is an interim CHRO tax-deductible?
General position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point. Not tax advice — check your own case with your accountant.
01 · DEDUCTIBLE
The fees are a business expense
An interim CHRO’s fees, like a salary, are deductible against profits when incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade (HMRC BIM37000). At the 25% main rate, each £1,000 of fees costs a profitable company £750 after relief.
02 · EMPLOYER NI
Employer NI follows IR35 status
A permanent CHRO carries employer National Insurance at 15% (gov.uk). An interim engaged through their own company carries none when the engagement is outside IR35; inside IR35, the fee-payer deducts tax and NI and pays employer NI. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice.
03 · WHO DECIDES
IR35 status, by company size
Medium and large clients determine the interim’s status themselves; for a small private-sector client, the interim’s own company decides (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
07/ decision
When to hire an interim HR Director
Four situations where companies hire an interim CHRO or HR Director — and where most interim HR leadership jobs come from.
Which sounds like you?
Redundancies, a new operating model or a site closure that must be run carefully and lawfully.
- → Consultation
- → Selection
- → Communication
An acquisition, a TUPE transfer or a PE investment with a people plan attached.
- → TUPE
- → Harmonisation
- → Retention
The HR Director or CHRO leaves with change programmes half-done.
- → Continuity
- → Employee relations
- → The search
Employee relations, culture or HR systems have drifted and need a senior owner for a period.
- → Diagnosis
- → Policy
- → Systems
08/ guide
Hiring an interim CHRO or HR Director: what to get right
Pick the level. An interim HR Director runs the function and the casework through change; an interim CHRO or Chief People Officer owns people strategy at board level. Exec Capital prices them differently: £500–£1,100 a day for HR Director mandates, £1,100–£1,800 for a listed-company CHRO.
Start with the outcome and the risk. Restructures, TUPE transfers and redundancy programmes carry legal exposure; the brief should name the programme, the dates and who signs off.
Choose between interim and fractional. If the people function needs a full-time owner through a programme, hire an interim. If it needs senior HR judgement a day or two a week, a fractional CHRO costs less.
Budget from the published bands, not a general average. Robert Walters puts London contract CHRO work at £900–£1,500 a day; a permanent CHRO is a median £147,000 and a permanent HR Director £110,250 (Robert Half), before on-costs and a retained search fee.
If you are looking for interim HR Director jobs or interim CHRO roles rather than hiring, the live board below lists current roles; fractional CHRO jobs cover the part-time market.
08.1/ restructures and TUPE
Hire an interim CHRO for a restructure: consultation, TUPE and the plan
Restructures and transfers are where many companies hire an interim CHRO or interim HR Director, and they are where process matters most. Acas sets out when collective consultation is a legal requirement: where an employer proposes redundancies at or above the statutory threshold at one establishment within the statutory period, it must consult a recognised trade union or elected employee representatives, and it must tell the government before issuing any notice of dismissal. Staggering redundancies to avoid consultation can lead to a protective award (Acas: collective consultation for redundancy).
A TUPE transfer brings its own duties. Acas advises both the old and the new employer to make a transfer plan and keep affected employees informed, and by law both must inform and consult staff representatives; due diligence information, warranties and indemnities are part of the planning (Acas: planning a TUPE transfer). An interim HR leader should own that plan, the consultation timetable and the records, and take legal advice where the facts are unclear.
Ask candidates which of these programmes they have run, and take references on them. If the programme is part of a wider turnaround, see hiring an interim CEO; for part-time people leadership once it is done, a fractional CHRO.
09/ contract
Interim CHRO jobs: how the assignment is contracted
Interim CHRO and interim HR Director jobs are usually contracted through the interim’s own limited company, on a fixed-term agreement that sets out the scope, the term, the day rate, the days a week and notice on each side. The scope is the outcome from the brief: the restructure, the transfer, the integration or the cover the assignment exists to deliver.
IR35 status turns on how the assignment runs in practice, not on what the contract calls it. HMRC looks at substitution, control and whether either side must offer or accept further work. Medium and large clients make the status determination; for a small private-sector client, the interim’s own company does (HMRC off-payroll guidance). See the IR35 guide.
TEST 1
Substitution
Whether the interim’s company could send a suitably qualified substitute, and whether that right is genuine in practice.
What HMRC looks atTEST 2
Control
Who decides how the work is done, as distinct from what the assignment must deliver.
What HMRC looks atTEST 3
Mutuality
Whether either side is obliged to offer or accept work beyond the agreed assignment.
What HMRC looks at10/ process
How to hire an interim CHRO with us
What we undertake on every brief.
- 01
Brief
A 30-minute call on the assignment, the start date and what the interim CHRO must have delivered by the end of the term.
DAY 0 - 02
Search
We search and screen against that brief: track record at your stage and in your situation, and references we take ourselves.
SCREENING - 03
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5 - 04
Start
You interview and choose. The interim you choose contracts with you.
YOU CHOOSE
11/ questions
Interim CHRO FAQ
Hiring an interim Chief HR Officer, or looking for interim CHRO jobs.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Hiring an interim CHRO? Start with the brief.
Book 15 minutes.
