Hire a Fractional Head of People
Bring in a pre-screened Head of People who has built comp frameworks, review cycles, and manager training at companies your size, matched in about 3 days.
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When to hire a Fractional Head of People
Bring in a Head of People when people problems start landing on the CEO's desk faster than they can be solved. These are the signs buyers usually see first.
The founder is still the HR department
Offer letters, terminations, and benefits questions route to the CEO or COO, pulling them away from customers and fundraising.
Pay is set deal by deal
You have no salary bands or leveling, so new hires earn more than tenured staff and equity grants are inconsistent.
Performance reviews keep slipping
There is no review cadence, managers give feedback ad hoc, and underperformance lingers until it becomes a resignation or a firing.
Regretted attrition is climbing
Strong people are leaving and exit conversations point to unclear growth paths and weak first-time managers.
Compliance gaps are piling up
You are hiring across states or countries without an updated handbook, consistent classification, or documented policies.
A reorg or layoff is on the calendar
You need someone experienced to plan communications, severance, and manager scripts before the news reaches the team.
The benefits of hiring a Fractional Head of People
A fractional Head of People gives you a senior operator who sets up the systems, policies, and manager habits a growing team needs, scoped to the hours your headcount actually requires.
Budget for HR leadership, not a full exec package
Pay for the people strategy, comp design, and employee relations judgment you need now, and add full-time HR staff once headcount justifies it.
Have a people leader in place before review season
Get matched with pre-screened candidates in about 3 days, so your next performance cycle, benefits renewal, or hiring push has an owner.
Hire someone who has scaled teams past 200
Meet operators who have written handbooks, built leveling frameworks, run layoffs, and coached first-time managers at companies at your stage.
How to hire a Fractional Head of People
No more juggling job boards and sorting through pools of unqualified applicants. Hiring a Fractional Head of People is easy with Go Fractional.
Intro Call
Answer a few quick questions, then book a free 30-minute intro call with our team to review your goals, needs, and team dynamics.
Meet Experts
Our AI finds Fractional Head of People candidates whose past clients and projects match your brief, which you won’t find on LinkedIn. A dedicated executive recruiter verifies each one’s experience, fit, and genuine interest, and you meet the ones who fit in about 3 days.
Start Work
Book time with candidates right from your shortlist, choose your operator, and sign a simple month-to-month agreement. We move as fast as you do.
Engagements that fit how you work
Every Go Fractional engagement is structured for senior leadership without full-time overhead. Start fractional, scale up, or convert to full-time when you’re ready.
Fractional Head of People
- Senior leadership on a part-time schedule
- Monthly retainer, no recruiting fees
- Scale hours up or down as needs change
Contract-to-Hire
Trial a Fractional Head of People on a fractional engagement before converting them to a full-time hire.
- Keep the expert's learnings or convert to full-time
- Try the fit before you commit, no hiring risk
- Faster speed to market, conserving time and resources
Interim Head of People
Full-time coverage for a defined stretch: a leadership gap, a transition, or a critical project.
Fractional Head of People rates average $161/hr across our live benchmarks. Pricing scales with hours and scope.
Head of People Hourly RatesFractional vs full-time vs agency
Three ways to get Head of People leadership, and where each one wins.
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| Factor | Fractional Head of People | Full-time Head of People | HR agency / PEO consultancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to hire | ~3 days to match | 3-6 months | 1-4 weeks |
| Engagement | Monthly retainer | Salary + equity + benefits | Per-project fees or per-employee markup |
| Owns culture and manager development | Yes, embedded with your leadership team | Yes, long-term | Rarely, focused on admin and compliance |
| Commitment | Flexible, scales with headcount | Permanent hire | Contract per deliverable |
| Best for | Building the people function at 30-300 employees | Large, stable orgs with an HR team to lead | Payroll, benefits admin, and one-off policy work |
We’ve helped hundreds of organizations Go Fractional
Twelve years: the average experience across a network of handpicked executives ready to make an impact on day one.
“Partnering with Go Fractional allowed Enertiv to bring on our fractional Head of Talent, streamlining the recruitment process - saving us time and cost. They implemented a state-of-the-art ATS, developed customized interview kits and scorecards, and reduced the time-to-fill our roles. This swift process successfully placed top-tier talent, including a Solutions Engineer, a Growth Marketer, and an Onboarding Manager. If you’re a business looking to scale rapidly with elite talent - I strongly recommend you check out Go Fractional.”
“It was literally three days after he started with us fractionally, our CEO was calling me and asking if we could get a full-time offer out.”
“It's a can't-lose scenario. You either get the learnings from the subject matter expert, or you get the full-time capability. It provided a ton of flexibility, much faster speed to market, and conservation of time and resources.”
Frequently asked questions
Here are a few questions that folks just like you have had during their search.
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