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Fractional SDR · hiring brief

SDR for Hire

SDR for Hire: agree the accounts, messaging and meeting standard before the first call, then choose between a part-time SDR, an employed SDR or an agency.

Brief us on this role →See SDR roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
SDR for Hire: a marketing leader walking her team through campaign concepts (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which SDR roles are on the board?

Fractional SDR roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

In the press

The brief

SDR for Hire: what must the role own?

Define the ideal customer and the account list.

  • 01AccountsDefine the ideal customer and the account list.
  • 02MessageAgree the problem the outreach leads with.
  • 03StandardDefine a qualified meeting the account executive will accept.
  • 04ToolsProvide CRM, data and sequencing tools.

Role reference: Institute of Sales Professionals: sales capability framework. The ISP framework sets out the prospecting and qualification capabilities to check in an SDR for hire.

For hire

SDR for hire: person or agency?

Can you hire an SDR agency to book demos for your account executives? Yes; the trade-off is control.

An agency gives capacity quickly but owns its own process. A part-time or employed SDR learns your product and stays. Either way, agree the meeting standard first or you will pay for meetings your account executives do not want.

The working pattern

What changes when the SDR is fractional?

An SDR for hire books qualified meetings for account executives. Whether they are part-time, employed or from an agency, the sales team must define what a good meeting is.

The illustrative brief: two account executives with empty calendars. The account executives spend half their week prospecting and close too little.

The appointment owns: An SDR for hire books meetings against an agreed standard, three days a week.

Another owner retains: Account executives run discovery and close; the sales lead owns the ICP.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire an SDR for hire, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the SDR must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    ICP
    Agree accounts and personas in writing.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Tools
    Set up CRM and sequencing access.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Standard
    Agree the meeting acceptance rule.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Review
    Review meeting quality weekly for the first month.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess SDR candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Quality
    Ask how many booked meetings an account executive accepted.
  2. Research
    Test a first message to one of your target accounts.
  3. Data
    Ask how they keep the CRM clean.
  4. Feedback
    Ask how they used lost-meeting feedback.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

Questions

SDR for Hire: questions, answered

A brief to hire an SDR for hire begins with accounts: Define the ideal customer and the account list. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • the-isp.org
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    Institute of Sales Professionals: sales capability framework the-isp.org
  2. 2
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  3. 3
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  4. 4
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

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  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room