Interim head of people salary · head of HR day rates, 2026

What an interim head of people earns, by the day and by the assignment

An interim head of people is paid a day rate, not a salary.

No survey we cite publishes an interim head of people salary or rate under that title; Robert Walters publishes the seat as head of HR, at a PAYE contract day rate of £600–£1,100 in London, with an average of £850.

Its averages outside London run from £500 a day in the Midlands to £580 in the North.

The rate covers full-time work for a fixed period, with no salary, pension or paid holiday behind it.

When you hire an interim through us, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on an interim head of people →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

£850

Head of HR, London · average PAYE day rate; range £600–£1,100

Robert Walters, 2026

£550

Head of HR, South · average PAYE day rate; range £410–£690

Robert Walters, 2026

£907

All interim managers · average day rate, every function

IIM survey, 2026

3–5

Shortlist · with day rate, availability and IR35 set out

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire an interim head of people

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Interim Head of People 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 HR leadership jobs on the board

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Interim HR leadership roles on the board

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a Interim Head of People brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

How an interim head of people is paid, and why the unit is the day

An interim head of people holds the people seat full-time for a defined period: a departure, a restructure, a redundancy programme, an acquisition or the gap before a permanent hire.

The interim is paid for the days worked, either through payroll or by invoicing through their own company.

An acquisition can bring a TUPE transfer, and Acas sets out what both employers must do.

Robert Walters’ figures for the seat are PAYE contract rates: the day rate for a contractor paid through payroll.

It publishes no limited-company rate for a head of HR, so ask which basis a quoted rate is on before you compare two candidates.

Either way there is no salary, no paid holiday and no employer pension, and the interim carries the gaps between assignments.

Across all functions, the Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey puts the average assignment at 10.0 months, the average gap between assignments at 3.2 months and the average days billed in a year at 148.

An interim who works through their own company pays themselves through salary and dividends from what the company earns, after its costs and Corporation Tax.

The day rate is the company’s income, not the interim’s take-home pay.

02/ scope

How to hire an interim head of people

1. Define the mandate and its end

Say what the interim must deliver and by when: cover until a permanent hire starts, a restructure, a set of policies rewritten.

The CIPD Profession Map, the standard for the people profession, helps name what the seat must cover.

A redundancy programme has fixed steps: an employer making 20 or more employees redundant within 90 days at one establishment must follow the collective consultation rules.

2. Decide IR35 status at the start

If your business is medium or large, you make the status determination for the engagement and give the interim your reasons.

Settle it before you go to market, because it decides whether the rate is paid through payroll or to the interim’s company.

3. Match the record to the mandate

Ask for outcomes from comparable assignments: the restructure that completed, the tribunal claim that never came, the casework cleared.

Casework has a floor: the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures is the minimum an employer should follow, and a tribunal takes the procedure into account.

What we do on an interim brief

We recruit interim, fractional, part-time, temporary and permanent people leaders, and non-executive directors.

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

If the brief needs a director, see hire an interim HR director.

03/ the board

What the board holds.

A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.

On this board, last 90 days · 2 roles · HR leadership

Engagement

Fractional2

Seat

CHRO1
HRD1

Days a week

Stated in the posting1
Not stated1

Day rate

Verified rate0
Estimated (est)0
Rate not stated2

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote0
Hybrid1
On-site1

Newest posting on the board: 6 Oct 2026.

04/ 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 head of people.

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

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

The fractional head of people route Talk it through

05/ rates by stage

Interim head of people salary head of HR day rates by region

Robert Walters’ 2026 contract rates for a head of HR, as published: PAYE day rates, from over 100,000 roles advertised over 12 months, exclusive of benefits. Robert Walters is a recruiter. The IIM figures cover every interim function, not this seat alone.

Seat and regionDay rateBasisSource

Head of HR, London£600–£1,100, average £850Contract rate per day, PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Head of HR, South£410–£690, average £550Contract rate per day, PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Head of human resources, North£500–£650, average £580Contract rate per day, PAYERobert Walters, 2026

Head of HR, Midlands£350–£600, average £500Contract rate per day, PAYERobert Walters, 2026

All interim managers, average£907All functions, 2026IIM survey, 2026

All interim managers, by IR35 status£949 outside · £830 insideAll functions, averageIIM survey, 2026

06/ economics

Interim pay and IR35: who decides, and what it changes

Tax status turns on how the engagement runs, not on the title or the contract alone.

Under the off-payroll working rules (IR35), a medium or large client makes the status determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the interim’s own company decides.

The rules apply contract by contract, so one interim can have engagements on both sides.

It shows in the rates.

The IIM’s 2026 survey puts the average interim day rate at £949 outside IR35 and £830 inside, across all functions.

HMRC’s CEST tool gives its view on a specific engagement.

Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

07/ vetting

How we vet interim head of peoples

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify Interim Head of People 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

08/ interim head of hr day rate

Interim head of HR day rate by region

The interim head of HR day rate Robert Walters publishes is highest in London: £600–£1,100 a day, with an average of £850.

In the South it is £410–£690 (average £550), in the North £500–£650 (average £580) and in the Midlands £350–£600 (average £500).

All four are PAYE rates.

For the seat above, see interim HR director salary; the brief, not the title, decides which one you need.

09/ the year

Interim head of people salary, annualised

An interim head of people salary is a figure people search for, but no interim is paid one.

To compare, multiply the day rate by the days worked.

At Robert Walters’ London average of £850, 220 days would bill £187,000.

At the IIM’s all-function average of 148 days billed in a year, the same rate bills £125,800.

Both are our arithmetic, a comparison and not a salary.

A full month of interim cover, at about 22 working days and £850 a day, comes to £18,700 (our arithmetic).

That is the client’s cost.

For scale, Robert Half’s 2026 median for a permanent head of HR in London is £95,250 in base salary; see head of people salary for the permanent benchmarks.

10/ the other routes

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

Interim cover buys a full-time people lead for a fixed period.

A permanent hire is paid a salary and package; see head of people salary.

If the work fits into part of the week, a fractional people lead on a day rate may suit; see fractional head of people jobs.

For the permanent salary spread across part-week days (our arithmetic, not a market rate), see fractional head of people salary.

For what an interim holds the seat to do at director level, see interim HR director.

11/ questions

Interim head of people salary FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an interim head of people.

No survey we cite publishes one under that title. Robert Walters publishes the seat as head of HR: a PAYE contract day rate of £600–£1,100 in London (average £850), £410–£690 in the South, £500–£650 in the North and £350–£600 in the Midlands, in 2026.

An interim is paid a day rate rather than a salary. At Robert Walters’ London average of £850, 220 days would bill £187,000 and the IIM’s average of 148 days billed would bill £125,800 (our arithmetic). That is gross income before the interim’s own costs, pension and tax.

Robert Walters’ 2026 averages are £580 a day in the North, £550 in the South and £500 in the Midlands, all PAYE contract rates. Its London average is £850.

The day rate times the days. At Robert Walters’ London average of £850, a month of about 22 working days is £18,700 (our arithmetic). Ask whether a quoted rate is PAYE or paid to the interim’s own company, because the two are not the same number. We set out the day rate for every candidate on the shortlist.

No source we cite measures this seat alone. Across all interim functions, the IIM’s 2026 survey puts the average assignment at 10.0 months and the average gap between assignments at 3.2 months.

It depends on how the engagement runs. A medium or large client makes the status determination; a small private-sector client leaves it to the interim’s own company (HMRC). The IIM’s 2026 survey puts average day rates at £949 outside IR35 and £830 inside, across all functions.

Brief the work, not the title. A head of people runs the function; an HR director is accountable for it at leadership level and is usually paid more. See interim HR director salary for that seat’s day rates.

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.

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