Start with the work, not the title
Most wrong choices begin with a label. Someone says we need a fractional CFO because it sounds lighter, or an interim COO because the seat is empty, and the search starts before anyone has described the job. Write the work first. List the decisions this person will make, the people who will report to them, and the result you expect when they leave.
Once the work is on paper, the label often picks itself. If the job is to run a function every day, hold a team accountable and sign things off, you are describing an interim. If the job is to give senior judgment a few times a week to a team that already runs day to day, you are describing a fractional role. If the job ends when a deliverable is done, it is project-based.
The decision helper on this page asks seven questions in that order. Use it with your own answers in front of you, then read the reasons it gives back and check them against what you wrote.
Where interim fits
An interim executive steps into a seat that matters now. The previous leader left, the business is in a hard patch, or a transaction or system change needs someone with authority to carry it. The person has line authority, accepts accountability and works as the leader for the engagement, not as an adviser standing beside the leader.
That authority is the thing you are buying. If you hire an interim and then keep every decision at the owner's desk, you have paid for a leader and used an assistant. Before you start, say which decisions they can take alone, which need a conversation and which stay with you.
Interim also suits a seat where the permanent answer is still unclear. A good interim can run the function while you decide whether to rebuild the role, split it or hire. That is the combination many companies end up with: interim now, with a permanent search running alongside once the profile is understood.
Where fractional fits
A fractional executive gives a company a few days a week of senior judgment. It works when the team below is competent and the gap is direction, structure or a specific discipline, not daily management. Think of a finance team that closes the books well but has no one to build the forecast, or an operations group that needs a senior voice on planning.
It goes wrong when the company needs someone to chase people every day. A fractional leader who is not in the building cannot rescue a team that needs constant presence. Ask honestly who will do the daily follow-up. If the answer is nobody, you probably need interim or a stronger number two.
Also check that the owner has time to use the person. A fractional leader needs a clear counterpart and a regular meeting. Without it the engagement drifts into occasional advice that no one acts on.
Project-based and permanent are real answers too
Some needs are neither. A defined deliverable such as a system selection, a lender package or a plant relocation plan can be scoped as a project with a clear finish. The benefit is focus. The risk is that the project touches a team and nobody senior stays to own the outcome afterwards.
Permanent is the right answer when the seat is stable, the need is ongoing and the hire is approved. Do not use interim as a way to avoid a decision you have already made. If you know you want a permanent leader, say so, and ask whether short term cover is useful while the search runs.
If you are not sure whether a permanent hire is approved, find out before the brief goes out. Candidates ask, and an unclear answer weakens the whole search.
Mistakes we see in the brief
The first mistake is describing a person instead of a problem. A brief that lists years and software tells candidates little. A brief that says the close is late, the lender wants better reporting and the controller needs support tells them exactly what they would walk into.
The second is hiding the real reason. If the last leader left in a dispute or the board is unhappy, a capable candidate will find out in the first conversation. Better to say it plainly, in confidence, and let the right person choose it.
The third is leaving out decision rights and the reporting line. The fourth is asking for a leader and then planning to supervise every move. Fix those four and the rest of the brief gets easier.
If you want help thinking it through, use the briefing checklist and talk it over with a senior team member or a senior team member.
What does it cost?
Rates depend on scope. We quote after a short scoping call. The scope is what moves the answer, which is why the questions above matter. A clear mandate, clear authority and a clear end point let us give you a quote that matches the work instead of a guess that changes later.
Bring your helper result and your draft brief to the call. We will tell you plainly whether the shape you chose still looks right.