The three words get used loosely, and differently in every jurisdiction. I have placed executives in all three shapes since 2011, and this is the vocabulary I use in every first conversation about how a seat should be structured. If you are here for the offer rather than the definitions: permanent search is on Services, interim and fractional on Solutions.
This guide is for general information only. Not legal, tax or compliance advice. Full disclaimer at the foot of this page.
Permanent, interim and fractional describe one dimension of an engagement. There are three more, and most people collapse all four into a single label. Separate them and the terminology stops being confusing.
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Permanent means open-ended, long-term. Temporary means a defined period, usually three to twelve months. Duration alone does not define the engagement, but it tells you whether you are hiring for continuity or for a chapter.
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Full-time roles can be permanent or temporary. Part-time roles are usually fractional, but a permanent part-time arrangement is possible too. Full-time or part-time sets how much of the week the executive is in the building and how far inside the team they sit.
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Permanent executives are usually employed directly. Interim and fractional executives may be self-employed, employed on a fixed-term basis, or seconded through a provider. The contract model has tax, employment law and liability implications that vary by jurisdiction.
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Permanent, interim and fractional executives can each be appointed as statutory officers, or not. Statutory officer status carries formal legal duties and personal liability. It is a separate governance and legal decision, not a function of engagement type.
A person can be a permanent full-time CFO without statutory appointment. Or an interim Managing Director who is a statutory officer for six months. Or a fractional CFO who is employed part-time. The labels describe different dimensions, not different types of person.
A long-term hire for an ongoing seat. The default in executive search, with the biggest upside when right and the biggest bill when wrong.
A permanent executive is a senior leader the company hires for an open-ended, long-term role. They are expected to become part of the long-term leadership team. The role is built to scale with the company, not to bridge a gap.
Typical permanent C-level roles: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Officer, Chief Technical Officer, Chief People Officer, General Manager and Managing Director.
Permanent executives are usually employed directly by the company. Most are full-time. Part-time permanent roles exist, especially in early-stage biotech, family-owned companies and subsidiaries where the long-term function does not yet justify a full-time hire. A permanent part-time CFO three days a week is a valid structure when the relationship is ongoing and not designed as a temporary bridge.
When the company needs long-term leadership, continuity and a person who grows with the stage. Common triggers: preparing a financing round, scaling after an investment, building or replacing a leadership team, professionalising a function, international expansion, IPO readiness, M&A preparation.
The cost of a wrong permanent hire is high. The cost of an unfilled permanent seat at the right moment is higher. I fill permanent roles in under 30 days, with a 12-month guarantee. How the search runs: Permanent Executive Search.
Full-time leadership for a defined chapter. The answer when a permanent hire is too slow, or when the job itself has an end date.
An interim executive is a senior leader brought in for a temporary period to provide immediate leadership: stabilise a function, fill a gap, manage a transition, or deliver a specific outcome.
Typical interim mandates: Interim CEO, Interim CFO, Interim COO, Interim CMO, Interim Managing Director, Interim General Manager, Interim Transformation Lead. The defining feature is not the contract model. The defining feature is that the role is temporary.
Interim executives are often self-employed or engaged through their own limited company. They can also be employed on a fixed-term contract, seconded through an interim provider, or engaged through a consulting firm. Interim does not mean self-employed by definition. Interim means temporary.
Most interim roles are full-time or close to it, especially in crisis, transformation or executive vacancy situations. Part-time interim mandates exist for less acute situations: an interim CFO three days a week during a fundraising process, for example.
When there is urgency. A CFO leaves three months before a financing round. A CMO is needed during a clinical readout. The board needs a CEO between cycles. A subsidiary needs a Managing Director after a sudden departure. The board needs operational leadership during a restructuring.
In each case the alternative is months of decision drag while a permanent search runs. I place interim and fractional C-level executives in 3 days. How that works: Interim & Fractional Executives.
Part-time executive leadership on an ongoing basis. The right shape when the role is real but the workload is half a role, or when the company is not yet ready for a full-time hire at this level.
A fractional executive is a senior leader who works for a company part-time. The company gets executive-level judgement for a fraction of the time, cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
Typical fractional roles: Fractional CFO, Fractional COO, Fractional CMO, Fractional CBO, Fractional Chief of Staff, Fractional Operating Partner. The defining feature is part-time engagement.
Fractional executives are often self-employed and engaged on a monthly retainer. They can also be employed part-time, especially through holding companies, venture builders or portfolio support structures. Common time models: one day a week, two days a week, a fixed number of days a month, or flexible support around key events such as board meetings, financing rounds or audits.
When the company needs senior judgement but cannot justify a full-time hire. A seed-stage biotech needs CFO-level support for runway management and investor reporting, two days a month. A founder needs an experienced COO one day a week to professionalise operations before reaching scale. A pre-Series-B company needs a CBO to support partnering discussions before a full-time business development leader is affordable.
The risk to manage with fractional is scope: too little time, unclear authority, or the gap between strategic input and operational follow-through. If the scope grows twice by day ninety, it was never fractional. I define the mandate precisely before the search starts. How that works: Interim & Fractional Executives.
Nine rows. The two rows people mix up most often are the contract model and the statutory officer role.
| Permanent | Interim | Fractional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core meaning | Long-term leadership hire | Temporary executive leadership | Part-time executive leadership |
| Duration | Open-ended | Defined period, typically 3 to 12 months | Ongoing, part-time |
| Time commitment | Usually full-time, sometimes part-time | Often full-time, can be part-time | Part-time by definition |
| Contract model | Usually employed | Often self-employed, can be fixed-term employed | Often self-employed on retainer, can be part-time employed |
| Statutory officer role | Possible, depending on appointment | Possible, especially in Managing Director roles | Possible but less common |
| Typical urgency | Medium to high | High | Low to medium, sometimes high around key events |
| Best for | Long-term leadership, scaling, succession | Executive gaps, crisis, transformation, transition | Early-stage companies, budget flexibility, specialist expertise |
| Main risk | Wrong long-term hire | Unclear mandate, or the wrong person for the stage | Insufficient authority, too little time |
| Typical example | Permanent CFO at Series B biotech | Interim CFO during a clinical readout | Fractional CFO at seed-stage biotech |
The biggest source of confusion in executive engagements is the difference between the job title and the legal appointment.
A person may be called CEO, CFO or Managing Director in a commercial sense. That title does not automatically make them a statutory officer of the company. A statutory officer is formally appointed to a legally recognised corporate role. The exact form depends on the jurisdiction.
A statutory officer has legal duties that go beyond an ordinary employment or consulting relationship.
This distinction matters in every executive engagement. Permanent, interim and fractional executives can each be appointed as statutory officers, or not. The choice is a legal and governance decision, not only an operational one.
Three different things, often used as if they were one. The difference matters most in cross-border engagements between Europe, the UK and the US.
A description of seniority. An executive senior enough to work with the board, report to investors, or sit at executive committee level is board-level. A CFO can be board-level by seniority without being a member of any board.
A formal governance role: member of the Board of Directors in the US or UK, member of the Management Board or Supervisory Board in Germany or Austria, Executive Board Member of an AG, Non-Executive Director, or Advisory Board member. These roles carry specific governance, fiduciary and oversight responsibilities.
A separate concept, covered in the section above: a person formally appointed to a legally recognised corporate office, with personal legal duties and potential liability.
The three overlap in some jurisdictions and stay separate in others. Before a search starts, I clarify which of the three the candidate is being hired into. In a cross-border search that question comes first. If the seat you are filling is a board seat, that search runs on Board & Advisory.
Five questions, in this order. They settle most engagement decisions before the search starts. They come before the two fits of The Rados Method, stage fit and need fit, which is where I judge the person.
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Long-term points to permanent. Temporary points to interim. Ongoing but part-time points to fractional.
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Part-time: fractional. Full-time and ongoing: permanent. Full-time and temporary: interim.
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If yes, you structure the role with statutory officer responsibility. That affects contract type, insurance, indemnification and liability exposure.
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Interim and fractional in 3 days. Permanent in under 30. Speed does not lower the standard: every candidate, interim or permanent, clears the basics and then stage fit and need fit. What changes is how long the person is expected to stay, and that is what need fit measures.
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Some executives are mainly advisors. Others are hands-on operators. Tell me which you need before the search starts. A fractional CFO expected to deliver full integration will disappoint. An interim CFO expected to be the long-term anchor will disappoint too.
How the shapes play out in biotech, reduced to the decision: stage, seat, shape. Simplified on purpose.
A Series A biotech hires a permanent part-time financial manager three days a week, not a strategic CFO. Financing decisions stay with the CEO. When the company reaches Series B, it hires a permanent full-time strategic CFO.
A clinical-stage biotech loses its CFO three months before a financing round. The board brings in an interim CFO within days. The interim runs the financial preparation for the round and stays for six months while the permanent search runs.
A seed-stage biotech engages a fractional Chief Medical Officer two days a month. The fractional CMO shapes the development plan, supports regulatory conversations, and prepares the company for the full-time CMO hire 18 months later.
A European subsidiary of a US biotech needs an interim Managing Director after the previous Geschäftsführer leaves. The interim is appointed Geschäftsführer for nine months and carries the full legal responsibility while a permanent successor is found.
A founder-led biotech hires a fractional COO one day a week to professionalise operations. The fractional COO holds no statutory officer responsibility but builds the operational backbone the company will need to scale.
The ones that come up in first conversations, answered the way I answer them on the call.
No. Self-employed versus employed describes the contractual relationship, not the engagement type. Interim executives can be self-employed, fixed-term employed, or seconded through a provider. Fractional executives can be self-employed on retainer or employed part-time. The correct classification depends on the actual contractual relationship, the local employment law, the tax treatment, and the degree of integration into the organisation.
Board-level describes seniority. A board member is a formal governance role. A CFO can be board-level by virtue of seniority without being a member of any board. Board members hold specific governance and fiduciary responsibilities that operational executives do not.
Yes, but it is rare and complex. A part-time Managing Director of a subsidiary is possible. A Director of a UK company can work part-time. But the legal responsibility of a statutory officer applies continuously, not only on the days the person works for the company. Most fractional roles are therefore structured without statutory officer responsibility unless there is a specific business or legal reason.
When the company needs ongoing long-term leadership for a function that does not yet justify full-time capacity. A permanent part-time CFO three days per week is a valid structure for an early-stage biotech that needs continuous financial leadership but cannot yet justify a full-time hire. The relationship is permanent because it is ongoing, not because of the time commitment.
Interim is temporary. Fractional is part-time. An interim CFO works full-time for six months and then leaves. A fractional CFO works two days per week on an ongoing basis. The two can overlap, but they describe different dimensions of the engagement. An interim role is defined by its end. A fractional role is defined by its time fraction. The two also combine often: part-time and temporary at once.
By time commitment and duration. If the company needs full-time leadership for a defined period, interim. If the company needs part-time leadership on an ongoing basis, fractional. If the company needs full-time leadership permanently, neither. The wrong choice creates either a permanent hire that should have been interim, an interim hire that should have been fractional, or a fractional hire that does not have enough time to do the job.
Legal disclaimer.
This guide is provided by Rados Recruiting GmbH for general information only. It does not constitute legal, tax, regulatory, or compliance advice and should not be relied upon as such. Statutory officer responsibility, employment classification, contract structures, and the legal duties of directors vary significantly across jurisdictions and depend on the specific facts of each case. Christian Rados is a biotech executive headhunter, not a lawyer or tax advisor. Before structuring any executive engagement, especially one involving statutory officer appointment or cross-border legal considerations, always consult qualified legal counsel and tax advisors in the relevant jurisdiction.
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