Hire an interim CRO
for the gap.
Hire an interim CRO or interim Sales Director — full-time revenue leadership on a fixed-term assignment — to hold the number through a vacancy, rebuild a sales team or turn round a stalled pipeline. Or browse live interim Chief Revenue Officer and interim sales leadership jobs below.
Book 15 minutes to hire an interim CRO
Tell us the situation and the start date. We come back with interim CRO candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 15 minutes, video or phone
- We scope the assignment and the start date
- Shortlist target: 48 hours after the call
- No retainer — 12% only if you sign
What is an interim CRO?
An interim CRO — or interim Sales Director — leads revenue full-time for a fixed term. Not a sales trainer and not a part-time fractional CRO: the person who owns the number, the pipeline and the sales team until the job is done or the permanent hire arrives.
Full-time
The CRO seat, five days a week.
An interim CRO takes the role in full — the number, the pipeline, the forecast and the sales team — rather than advising from outside it.
Fixed-term
Starts quickly
Outcome-led
What an interim CRO or Sales Director owns
The interim carries revenue accountability for the term; account executives and sales operations keep the selling.
✓ OWNS
- Revenue target and forecast
- Pipeline and sales process
- Sales team structure, hiring and coaching
- Comp plans and quotas
- Key accounts and strategic deals
- Sales–marketing alignment
- Board revenue reporting
- Handover to the permanent hire
× DELEGATES
- Individual deal admin
- CRM data hygiene
- Prospecting sequences
- Proposal formatting
- Event logistics
- Commission calculations
Interim CRO vs fractional, Sales Director and permanent
The same seat, four ways of filling it.
Interim CRO and Sales Director day rates, UK 2026
Published figures only, each with its source. No UK source we can verify publishes a separate interim CRO band, so the Sales Director bands are the reference; Exec Capital puts CRO pay 20–40% above Sales Director at comparable scale.
Bars are published bands; the tick marks each band’s midpoint (our arithmetic, not a published average).
| Engagement | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SME (to £20m revenue) | £500–£900 a day | Exec Capital, 2026 |
| Mid-market and PE-backed | £800–£1,400 a day | Exec Capital, 2026 |
| Enterprise or complex commercial model | £1,200–£1,800 a day | Exec Capital, 2026 |
| Turnaround or commercial acceleration | £900–£1,600 a day | Exec Capital, 2026 |
| Interim Sales Director | £800–£1,500 a day | Leadership Services, 2026 |
| Permanent Sales Director, mid-market | OTE £160,000–£260,000 | Exec Capital salary guide |
Six months full-time (about 130 working days) is roughly £104,000–£182,000 on the mid-market band before our fee — our arithmetic.
What an interim CRO costs
Model a fixed-term interim CRO against a permanent Chief Revenue Officer over the same period.
Is an interim CRO tax-deductible?
General position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point. Not tax advice — check your own case with your accountant.
The fees are a business expense
An interim CRO’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.
Outside IR35, no 15% on top
A permanent CRO carries employer National Insurance at 15% (gov.uk). An interim engaged through their own company outside IR35 does not. Inside IR35, the fee-payer deducts tax and NI and pays employer NI.
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).
When to hire an interim CRO
Four situations where companies hire an interim CRO or Sales Director — and where most interim revenue leadership jobs come from.
The revenue leader has left
Mid-year, with a forecast to hit and a team watching.
A stalled pipeline
Win rates down, cycles longer, forecast unreliable.
Post-funding scale-up
A raise that assumes a sales team twice the size by next year.
A PE value-creation plan
A new owner’s revenue targets and a commercial function not built for them.
Hiring an interim CRO: what to get right
Decide between CRO and Sales Director. A CRO owns the whole revenue engine — sales, marketing and customer success under one number; a Sales Director runs the sales team. Recurring-revenue businesses usually need the first; sales-led businesses often the second.
Start with the outcome and the number. An interim CRO is hired to leave something measurable: a forecast the board trusts, a rebuilt team, a pipeline back to coverage. Put it and a date in the brief.
Choose between interim and fractional. If revenue needs a full-time owner for a few months, hire an interim. If it needs senior direction a few days a month, a fractional Sales Director costs less — Exec Capital puts that at £500–£1,000 a day.
Budget from the published bands. Exec Capital puts interim Sales Director rates at £500–£900 a day for SMEs, £800–£1,400 mid-market and PE-backed, £1,200–£1,800 at enterprise scale and £900–£1,600 for turnaround; Leadership Services quotes £800–£1,500. Interim revenue leaders are paid a day rate, not OTE.
If you are looking for interim CRO jobs or interim Sales Director roles rather than hiring, the live board below lists current roles; fractional CRO jobs cover the part-time market.
IR35 for an interim CRO
Our contracts are drafted to sit outside IR35. Status still turns on how the assignment runs day to day, and a full-time interim needs more care here than a fractional role. Medium and large clients make the determination; for a small private-sector client the interim’s own company does. See the IR35 guide.
Substitution
The contract is with the interim’s limited company and carries a genuine right to send a qualified substitute.
Control
You set the outcomes for the assignment; the interim decides how the work gets done.
Mutuality
No obligation to offer or accept work beyond the agreed assignment and term.
How to hire an interim CRO with us
What we undertake on every brief. No retainer; you pay only if you sign.
Brief
A 30-minute call on the assignment, the start date and what the interim CRO must have delivered by the end of the term.
DAY 0Search
We search and screen against that brief: track record at your stage and in your situation, and references we take ourselves.
SCREENINGShortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. We aim to send it within 48 hours.
48H TARGETStart
You interview and choose. Our fee is 12%, charged on signing, with flexible fee clawback agreed case by case.
12% ON SIGNINGInterim CRO FAQ
Hiring an interim Chief Revenue Officer, or looking for interim CRO jobs.
Need an interim CRO this month?
Book 15 minutes. We aim to have a shortlist with you within 48 hours of the call.
Book a call →Related pages
Interim, fractional and cost guides for the same seat.
Hire a Fractional CRO
Part-time revenue leadership, plus fractional CRO jobs.
Hire a Fractional Head of Sales
Fractional Sales Directors at £500–£1,000 a day.
CRO Salary UK
Permanent, fractional and interim revenue-leader pay.
Hire an Interim Marketing Director
Interim marketing leadership.
Hire an Interim CMO
Board-level interim marketing leadership.
Hire an Interim CEO
Interim chief executives for transitions and turnarounds.
Interim Executive Recruitment
Every interim C-suite role, with published day rates.
Interim Recruitment Agencies
The UK interim management firms, compared.
Interim CRO jobs · last 3 months
Live Interim CRO jobs
No live Interim CRO roles right now.
We only show real, verified vacancies from the last three months — we never pad the board with fabricated listings. New Interim CRO roles appear here as our pipeline finds them.
