Interim manager. Fractional executive. Same discipline.
Two shapes of the same model: a senior operator inside your business with a written outcome and a written end date. Interim when the seat needs covering now. Fractional when the company needs the judgement, not the full time salary.
Choose the shape
Interim CEO. Full time, full authority, for a window. Departures, restructurings, post acquisition plans, succession bridges. Details on the interim CEO page.
Fractional CMO. Part time, permanent seat, four to eight days a month. Positioning, demand, team and commercial numbers. Details on the fractional CMO page.
Turnaround leadership. Cash first, cadence second, structure third. Usually delivered inside an interim CEO mandate rather than as a separate contract.
Why companies use the model
- Speed. Weeks to start, against three to nine months for an executive search.
- No permanent headcount and no severance exposure on a hire made under pressure.
- Neutrality. No internal history, no allegiances, no career to protect inside the company.
- Experience density. Someone who has already run the situation you are in for the first time.
- A defined end, which keeps everyone honest about whether the outcome was reached.
The operating discipline
Every mandate runs on the same method: Lead. Manage. Follow. read backwards. Follow the ground truth before changing it, manage the cadence until the machine runs, then lead where the company has to go. The three stages are set out under Follow, Manage and Lead.
Briefs go through the contact form, the only channel on this site.
Frequently asked questions
- What is an interim manager?
- An interim manager is a senior executive placed inside a company for a defined period to hold a specific seat and deliver a specific outcome. They are employed by the mandate, not by the org chart, which is what lets them start fast and leave cleanly.
- Interim manager or fractional executive, which do I need?
- Choose interim when the seat must be covered full time for a window, usually because someone left or the situation is acute. Choose fractional when the company needs senior judgement on a permanent part time basis and cannot justify a full time salary.
- How long does an interim mandate last?
- Three to eighteen months is the normal range. Under three months there is rarely time to change anything structural. Over eighteen months the role has effectively become permanent and should be converted or handed over.
- Which functions are covered?
- General management as interim CEO, commercial and marketing leadership as fractional or interim CMO, and cross-functional turnaround leadership. Specialist finance, legal and IT seats are better filled by specialists in those disciplines.
- Does an interim manager work onsite?
- Onsite when the situation is distressed or the team is new, since presence is what builds trust in the first weeks. Hybrid once the operating cadence is established and the team is running it themselves.