How to hire a fractional CEO / GM

Hiring a fractional CEO or GM is not a smaller version of a permanent CEO search. The best engagements start with clarity about the problem you are solving, the authority the role needs, and what success looks like in the first 90 days.

1. Start with the business problem, not the job title

Are you trying to unblock growth? Professionalise the leadership team? Prepare for investment? Step back from daily operations as a founder? Each scenario calls for a different shape of executive. Define the outcomes before you define the days per month.

2. Look for relevant leadership scars

A strong fractional CEO / GM has usually led a business — or a significant part of one — through the exact challenge you are facing. Look for evidence of:

• Leading businesses at a similar stage, size, or growth inflection point.
• Making decisions with incomplete information and limited authority.
• Working with founders, boards, and investors without defaulting to hierarchy.
• Delivering measurable commercial or operational outcomes, fast.

3. Ask practical interview questions

Useful questions include: “How would you diagnose our business in the first 30 days?” “Tell me about a time you had to reset a leadership team without replacing it,” and “How do you hand over accountability so the business is stronger after you leave?”

4. Agree scope, authority, and exit

Be specific about days per month, decision rights, reporting lines, board access, and how you will judge progress. A fractional CEO / GM needs enough authority to act — but also a clear understanding of when their work is done.

5. Make them part of the real conversations

Fractional does not mean kept at arm’s length. Give them access to the financials, the leadership team, and the uncomfortable truths. The more context they have, the faster they can move — and the less risk they take on your behalf.