How quickly can I hire a VP of Data, and how are candidates screened?

Most clients are matched with a VP of Data in ~3 days , and there is no deposit to start sourcing. Every operator is pre-screened by veteran executive recruiters on track record, references, and hands-on leadership before you meet them. That process is why we hold a 98% match success rate .

How is Go Fractional different from a data consultancy or freelance platform?

Go Fractional is a dedicated fractional executive marketplace, not an agency and not a generic freelance platform. We use AI-powered matching across 19,000 operators to find data leaders who have already solved your specific problem, such as consolidating a sprawling warehouse or shipping a first ML model to production. A consultancy sells you a project team on a fixed scope. We match you with one senior leader who owns your data strategy as part of your leadership team.

Can I convert a fractional VP of Data to full-time?

Yes. Our contract-to-hire option lets you work with a VP of Data on your real stack and team first, then convert them to a full-time role for a fee of 20% of first-year salary . Many companies use this path to confirm fit before committing to a permanent executive hire.

Do I need a VP of Data or a Head of Data Science?

Hire a VP of Data when you need one leader who owns the whole function: data engineering, analytics, governance, and data science priorities. A Head of Data Science focuses on modeling and experimentation and usually assumes clean, well-governed data already exists. If your metrics are inconsistent or your pipelines are fragile, start with the VP of Data and let them decide when a data science lead is worth adding.

What does a fractional VP of Data take on in the first weeks?

Expect an audit of your data stack and reporting first: pipeline reliability, warehouse structure, metric definitions, and who owns which data. From there, a strong VP of Data agrees on a single source of truth for your core KPIs and publishes a prioritized roadmap tied to business decisions. They will also assess your current analysts and engineers and recommend whether to hire, restructure, or bring in tooling such as dbt tests or a semantic layer.

Which skills should I screen for in a VP of Data?

Look for hands-on depth in the modern data stack (SQL, dbt, Snowflake or BigQuery, orchestration tools like Airflow) plus enough statistics and machine learning knowledge to judge model quality. Equally important is the ability to tell a clear story with data in Looker, Tableau, or a board deck. Ask for examples of governance programs they built and a metric they changed that moved a revenue or cost decision.

Hire a Fractional VP of Data

Pre-screened data leaders who have rebuilt warehouses, set governance standards, and grown analytics teams, matched to your stack and stage in about 3 days.

Helen P

Fractional VP of DataThe New York Times, Peloton Interactive, Foursquare

Fractional Data Scientist with 15+ years experience at NYTimes, Peloton. Specializing in Analytics, SQL, Python and AWS.

Hire Helen

Tim R

Fractional VP of DataBank of America / Merrill Lynch, Constant Contact, Open Text

Experienced fractional analytics leader with expertise in data analysis, business intelligence and startups. Excelled at ChowNow leveraging Tableau, Python, SQL.

Hire Tim

David K

Fractional VP of DataThe Home Depot, Macy's, LG Electronics

Experienced Head of Data & Analytics specializing in fractional roles, with expertise in ETL tools, Python, Big Data, and Google Cloud Platform.

Hire David

Brigit L

Fractional VP of DataCitigroup, Airbnb, SEPHORA

High-level data analytics leader with expertise in fractional strategies. Proficient in SQL, R, Python for customer insights.

Hire Brigit

Rutvij S

Fractional VP of DataSTAPLES, Inc, Dassault Systèmes, MIT

Fractional data expert driving scalable solutions in BI, analytics, ETL, and governance. Empowering businesses with strategic insights.

Hire Rutvij

Our members have led data at

19,000+

Operators

~3 days

Average Time to Match

98%

Match Success Rate

No Deposit

Want to see more profiles?

Meet uniquely qualified Fractional VP of Datasfor your company. Tell us your needs and we’ll handpick your best matches from the network.

Find My Fractional VP of Data

When to hire a Fractional VP of Data

Bring in a VP of Data when data problems start costing you decisions, revenue, or credibility and nobody senior owns the fix.

Hire a Fractional VP of Data

Every team reports a different number
Finance, product, and sales each pull revenue or churn from their own source, and leadership meetings stall on whose dashboard is right.
Your warehouse grew without a plan
Pipelines break silently, dbt models are undocumented, and your data engineers spend more time firefighting than building.
Governance and compliance gaps are showing
You lack clear data ownership, access controls, or quality checks, and a customer audit, SOC 2 review, or privacy request exposed it.
Analysts have no senior leader
Your data scientists and analysts report to an engineering or finance lead who cannot set priorities, review models, or plan their careers.
ML and AI ideas never reach production
The board asks about AI, but there is no prioritized use case, no feature pipeline, and no one to judge whether the data can support it.
A fundraise or exit needs clean data
Investors or acquirers want cohort analysis, unit economics, and a defensible metrics story, and your current reporting will not hold up to diligence.

The benefits of hiring a Fractional VP of Data

A fractional VP of Data gives you a senior operator who sets data strategy, owns governance, and turns your warehouse into decisions, on a retainer sized to your stage.

Hire a Fractional VP of Data

Fund a data leader before a full data team

Get executive ownership of your data roadmap, modeling standards, and analytics hires on a monthly retainer instead of a VP salary, bonus, and equity package.

Fix your metrics before the next board meeting

Meet pre-screened candidates within days, so a leader can reconcile conflicting revenue and retention numbers while the quarter is still open.

Pick a leader who has scaled a data stack before

Choose from operators with track records in dbt, Snowflake, BigQuery, Looker, and production ML, screened for both technical depth and business impact.

The process

How to hire a Fractional VP of Data

No more juggling job boards and sorting through pools of unqualified applicants. Hiring a Fractional VP of Data is easy with Go Fractional.

Hire a Fractional VP of Data

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 VP of Data 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.

What a Fractional VP of Data Costs

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 VP of Data

Senior leadership on a part-time schedule
Monthly retainer, no recruiting fees
Scale hours up or down as needs change

$5,000/month

Starting at · about 27 hrs/month at the $186/hr average

Start with a Retainer

Contract-to-Hire

Trial a Fractional VP of Data 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

Book Time to Learn More

Interim VP of Data

Full-time coverage for a defined stretch: a leadership gap, a transition, or a critical project.

$24,000/month

Starting at · full-time hours

Hire Interim

Fractional VP of Data rates average $186/hr across our live benchmarks. Pricing scales with hours and scope.

VP of Data Hourly Rates

Fractional vs full-time vs agency

Three ways to get VP of Data leadership, and where each one wins.

Factor	Fractional VP of Data	Full-time VP of Data	Data agency / consultancy
Time to hire	~3 days to match	3-6 months	2-6 weeks
Engagement	Monthly retainer	Salary + bonus + equity	Project fee with markup
Owns data strategy and roadmap	Yes, as an embedded leader	Yes	No, executes a defined scope
Data governance and metric definitions	Sets standards and assigns owners	Sets standards and assigns owners	Documents current state on request
Builds your in-house data team	Hires and coaches analysts and engineers	Hires and manages long term	Rarely, team stays with the agency
Best for	Strategy, governance, and team design with flexibility	Large data orgs needing permanent leadership	Pure build work like a pipeline or dashboard project

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.

“Hiring a fractional Head of Data Science has been transformative for our company. At just 50% of the cost of a full-time data scientist, we secured a seasoned data leader with over 12 years of experience in top startups. This strategic move has significantly enhanced our data strategy and execution. The expert leadership has instilled confidence in our data capabilities, driving measurable results for our business.”

Khadija AliHead of Product, #paid

“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.”

Victoria AshtonSenior VP of People, Lob

“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.”