How we vet fractional executives.
This is the five-stage process we put every candidate through before they reach you: qualification, mandate fit, references, shortlist and kick-off. It is what makes a shortlist worth reading — and what makes the engagement actually fit the brief.
The five stages.
Stage 01 — Qualification screen
Verify the CXO tenure. ICAEW/ACCA/CIMA for CFOs.
Real prior CISO or VP-Engineering tenure for CTOs.
Board-facing mandate experience for CEOs and CMOs.
No FD-pretending-to-be-CFO; no Head-of-Growth-pretending-to-be-CMO.
We also screen for sector context — fintech, healthtech, PE-backed industrials, climate scale-ups — because pattern recognition compounds at the C-suite tier.
Stage 02 — Mandate fit
Match the operator to the situation, not the title. A pre-Series-B fundraise needs a different CFO than a post-acquisition integration.
A turnaround needs a different COO than a 100-day plan in a PE-portfolio company.
We score every candidate against the brief's stage, situation, board dynamics and timing — and rank by mandate fit, not by who happens to be available.
Stage 03 — Reference deep-dive
Speak to recent fractional clients. Not the candidate's named referees from five years ago.
We contact two or three founders, investors or chairs the candidate has worked with in the last 18 months.
What we ask: did they actually deliver the mandate, or did they get to "advisory" and stop?
Did they fit the team?
Would you hire them again at a different stage?
Stage 04 — Shortlist + analysis
Three to five candidates, each with the analysis layer attached. Rate percentile (where they sit in the UK band for that role).
Fit score (against your brief).
IR35 structure (CEST result + contract pattern).
You get the full picture before the first interview, not after.
Stage 05 — Kick-off
Contracts outside IR35, signed within a week. SOW with deliverables.
KPIs scoped to the mandate.
First board pack or executive review on the calendar before week two.
The discipline of the vetting process flows into the discipline of the engagement.
