Interim executive assistant salary · hourly and day rates, 2026

What an interim executive assistant earns, by the hour and by the day

An interim executive assistant salary is really an hourly or day rate.

Robert Walters’ 2026 survey puts a contract EA in London at £25–£60 an hour, with an average of £50, paid through PAYE.

Lily Shippen puts a temporary EA in London at £25–£32 an hour.

IT Jobs Watch’s median EA contract day rate is £225, from a small sample of job ads.

The rate pays for cover over a fixed period: a leave, a vacancy, a project or a busy season.

When you hire an executive assistant on interim or temporary terms through us, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on an interim EA →See the roles

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

£25–£60

Contract EA, London · an hour, PAYE; average £50

Robert Walters, 2026

£25–£32

Temporary EA, London · an hour

Lily Shippen, 2026

£225

Contract EA day rate, median · from 7 rates quoted in job ads, 6 months to 5 Oct 2026

IT Jobs Watch

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

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Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Interim Executive Assistant 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

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On the board · last 3 months

Interim executive assistant jobs on the board

0 on the board · 0 confirmed open

No Interim executive assistant roles on the board right now.

We only show real vacancies from the last three months, each marked whether we could confirm it is still open — we never pad the board. New Interim executive assistant roles appear here as our pipeline finds them.

Browse every role on the board →Talk to us about hiring

Executive assistant roles on the board

How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a Interim Executive Assistant brief and a shortlist of three to five.

01/ the role

How an interim executive assistant is paid, and why the unit is the hour

An interim or temporary EA covers the seat for a defined period: parental leave, a gap between permanent hires, a transaction, a chief executive’s first months.

They are paid by the hour or the day, and most of the published figures on this page are hourly.

Hours turn the rate into pay.

The National Careers Service gives typical EA hours of 37 to 42 a week.

At Lily Shippen’s London rate of £25–£32 an hour, a 37-hour week comes to £925–£1,184 (our arithmetic).

At Robert Walters’ London average of £50 an hour, it comes to £1,850 (our arithmetic).

Agency temps gain rights with time.

GOV.UK says an agency worker is entitled to the National Minimum Wage for every hour worked and, after 12 weeks, to the same pay as a permanent employee doing the same job.

A long assignment moves towards the permanent rate.

Agency workers are also among the workers entitled to paid holiday.

02/ scope

How to hire an interim executive assistant

1. Define the cover and its end

Say who the EA will support, which days and hours, and when the assignment ends: a return from leave, a permanent start date, the close of a project.

A clear end date makes the rate and the handover easier to agree.

2. Choose how the EA is engaged

A temporary EA is often paid through an agency’s payroll, by the hour.

An interim EA who works through their own company invoices instead, and then IR35 applies.

Settle the basis before you go to market, because it changes the rate quoted.

Acas explains how working through an agency works and what an agency worker is entitled to.

The three types of employment status, employee, worker and self-employed, decide which rights apply.

3. Match experience to the leader

Cover for a chief executive or a board needs an EA who has done it before, and is paid more for it.

Morgan McKinley’s London contract rates rise from £22–£28 an hour at up to three years’ experience to £30–£35 at five years or more.

What we do on an interim brief

We recruit temporary, interim, part-time, fractional and permanent executive assistants.

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

EA roles on the board are listed on executive assistant jobs.

03/ the route

Fractional, interim or permanent?

Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.

How much of the week does the work fill?

Is there a fixed end or a programme?

Does the seat sit on the board for years?

Is the need now, or can it wait for a search?

The route · Fractional

A fractional executive assistant.

The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.

A fractional executive assistant holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.

The fractional executive assistant route Talk it through

04/ rates by stage

Interim executive assistant salary hourly and day rates by region and source

Temporary and contract EA rates as each publisher states them, all 2026. Robert Walters’ rates are PAYE; its Midlands rate is a day rate, the others hourly. Morgan McKinley splits its rates by years of experience. IT Jobs Watch medians come from a small number of rates quoted in IT job ads. Robert Walters, Lily Shippen and Morgan McKinley are recruiters.

Region and levelRateBasisSource

Contract EA, London£25–£60 an hour, average £50PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Contract EA, South£17–£31 an hour, average £24PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Contract EA, North£16.50–£25.50 an hour, average £21PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Contract EA, Midlands£175–£285 a day, average £230PAYE, day rateRobert Walters, 2026

Temporary EA, London£25–£32 an hourTemporary rateLily Shippen, 2026

Temporary EA, Manchester£20–£25 an hourTemporary rateLily Shippen, 2026

Temporary EA, rest of the country£20–£24 an hourTemporary rate, outside London and ManchesterLily Shippen, 2026

Contract EA, London, 0–3 years£22–£28 an hourContract rateMorgan McKinley, 2026

Contract EA, London, 3–5 years£25–£30 an hourContract rateMorgan McKinley, 2026

Contract EA, London, 5+ years£30–£35 an hourContract rateMorgan McKinley, 2026

Contract EA, South East, 0–3 / 3–5 / 5+ years£16–£20 · £20–£22 · £22–£25 an hourContract rateMorgan McKinley, 2026

Contract EA, all regions, median£225 a day7 daily rates quoted, 6 months to 5 Oct 2026; middle half £203–£319IT Jobs Watch

Contract EA, London, median£250 a day6 daily rates quoted, same periodIT Jobs Watch

Contract EA, outside London, median£200 a daySame periodIT Jobs Watch

05/ economics

PAYE, agency or own company: who decides, and what it changes

An EA paid through PAYE, by an agency or an umbrella company, has tax and National Insurance taken off the rate like any wage.

Robert Walters publishes its contract EA rates on that basis.

HMRC explains how pay and deductions work when you are working through an umbrella company.

Where an interim EA works through their own limited company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) apply.

A medium or large client makes the status determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the EA’s own company decides.

The rules apply contract by contract, and status turns on how the engagement runs, not on the contract’s wording.

HMRC’s CEST tool gives its view on one engagement; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

06/ vetting

How we vet interim executive assistants

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify Interim Executive Assistant 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

07/ interim executive assistant day rate

Interim executive assistant day rate and hourly rate by region

Few publishers quote an interim executive assistant day rate; most quote by the hour.

Robert Walters is the exception for the Midlands, at £175–£285 a day with an average of £230, paid through PAYE.

IT Jobs Watch’s median contract day rate for an EA is £225 across the country and £250 in London, from six or seven rates quoted in IT job ads, so treat it as a pointer rather than a benchmark.

By the hour, London leads.

Robert Walters gives £25–£60 in London, £17–£31 in the South and £16.50–£25.50 in the North.

Lily Shippen gives £25–£32 in London, £20–£25 in Manchester and £20–£24 elsewhere.

Morgan McKinley’s South East rates run from £16–£20 an hour for an EA with up to three years’ experience to £22–£25 for five years or more.

08/ temporary executive assistant pay over a year

Temporary executive assistant pay, annualised

No interim EA is paid a salary, but the rate can be set against one.

At IT Jobs Watch’s £225 median, 220 working days would come to £49,500 (our arithmetic, a ceiling with no gaps).

The Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey puts the average days billed by interim managers at 148 a year; at that, the same rate comes to £33,300 (our arithmetic).

The IIM’s figure covers interim managers in every function, not temporary support staff, so it is a comparison only.

For scale, Robert Half’s 2026 median for a permanent executive assistant is £50,250 in base salary, before employer’s National Insurance and pension.

See executive assistant salary for the permanent benchmarks in full, and the IIM’s 2026 survey for its method.

09/ the other routes

Interim, permanent or part-time: which pay basis fits

Interim cover buys an EA for a fixed period, paid by the hour or the day.

A permanent hire is paid a salary and package; see executive assistant salary.

If the leader needs support for part of every week on a lasting basis, a part-time executive assistant on a pro rata salary may suit better.

For remote support, see virtual executive assistant.

10/ questions

Interim executive assistant salary FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an interim executive assistant.

An interim or temporary EA is paid an hourly or day rate rather than a salary. Robert Walters’ 2026 survey puts a London contract EA at £25–£60 an hour (PAYE), with an average of £50; Lily Shippen puts a London temporary EA at £25–£32 an hour. At IT Jobs Watch’s £225 median day rate, 220 days would come to £49,500 (our arithmetic).

Lily Shippen’s 2026 survey gives £25–£32 an hour. Morgan McKinley’s 2026 contract rates run from £22–£28 an hour for up to three years’ experience to £30–£35 for five years or more. Robert Walters gives £25–£60, with an average of £50 (PAYE).

IT Jobs Watch’s median EA contract day rate is £225 for the six months to 5 October 2026, and £250 in London, from a small sample of IT job ads. Robert Walters puts a Midlands contract EA at £175–£285 a day, with an average of £230 (PAYE).

Define the cover and its end date, decide whether the EA is paid through an agency or their own company, and match their experience to the leader they will support. See hire an executive assistant for the steps.

The rate times the hours. At Lily Shippen’s London rate of £25–£32 an hour, a 37-hour week is £925–£1,184 (our arithmetic). At IT Jobs Watch’s £225 median day rate, a five-day week is £1,125 (our arithmetic). We set out the pay or day rate for every candidate on the shortlist.

After 12 weeks in the same job, an agency worker is entitled to the same pay as a permanent employee doing the same job (GOV.UK). Before then, the agency’s rate applies, and never less than the National Minimum Wage.

IR35 applies only where the EA works through their own company, not where they are paid through PAYE by an agency. Where it applies, a medium or large client makes the status determination, and status depends on how the engagement runs (HMRC).

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A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

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