Fractional CxO Services
Senior technology and security leadership without a full-time hire. A part-time CISO, CTO or CIO who owns your strategy, reports to your board and builds your team.
Service Details
A fractional CxO gives you a senior technology or security executive for a set number of days each month. You get someone who owns your strategy, reports to your board and builds your team, without the cost and long search of a full-time hire. It is part of our strategy and advisory services, which cover the advice, planning and assurance behind your technology and security decisions.
Many mid-sized organisations need executive-level judgement, but not five days a week. A fractional leader sits inside your leadership team and is accountable for results, rather than advising from the outside.
Fractional CISO, CTO or CIO: which do you need?
A fractional Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) suits regulated firms facing the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or detailed customer security questionnaires. They own your risk management programme, your framework compliance and your relationships with auditors.
A fractional Chief Technology Officer (CTO) suits product and technology businesses that need direction on architecture, cloud strategy, application security standards and engineering hiring.
A fractional Chief Information Officer (CIO) suits organisations where running technology is the problem: too many suppliers, rising costs and no one internal who owns it. This pairs well with our managed services for the day-to-day work.
Not sure which seat is empty? A security posture review shows where the gaps are before you commit.
Leadership that stays in the room
The decisions keep coming: budgets to set, risks to own, suppliers to challenge and auditors to satisfy. Without a senior owner, they stall or land on people who lack the time or authority to make them.
Your fractional CxO takes those decisions on. They work alongside your team on agreed days, so they know your people and systems well enough to make the call.
What your fractional CxO covers
One accountable owner for technology and security leadership:
Strategy & Roadmap
A strategy tied to business goals, with a phased roadmap your budget can follow.
Board Reporting
Plain-English risk and progress reports that help directors decide and show regulators you are in control.
Supplier Management
Contracts, renewals and provider performance reviewed, so you pay for what you use and get what you were promised.
Team Building
Roles defined, hires interviewed and staff coached, so internal capability grows instead of depending on us.
Audit Liaison
One point of contact for auditors, assessors and customer due diligence, with evidence gathered before it is asked for.
Incident Leadership
Calm, practised command when something goes wrong, from the first call through to lessons learned.
How the engagement works
You get a clear plan early and regular proof of progress after that.
- Discovery — Your CxO interviews key people, reviews documents and takes a technical baseline of your risks, controls and team.
- Priorities — You agree with leadership what matters most, and the findings become a quarterly plan with measurable outcomes.
- Delivery — Your CxO leads the work on agreed days each month, directing your team, suppliers and our specialists.
- Review — Progress goes to your board each quarter, and the plan and number of days change as your needs do.
Interim cover and handover
When a CISO, CTO or CIO leaves, or before your first hire, a fractional leader keeps decisions moving. When you are ready to recruit, they help write the role and hand over a function that is documented and working.
Roadmap
A prioritised plan your next leader can pick up
Risk Register
Risks named, owned and tracked
Hiring Support
Role written, candidates assessed
Evidence for boards, auditors and investors
Your fractional CxO keeps the records that show security is being managed: the risk register, policies, board reports and decisions on accepted risks. That evidence supports ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials and FCA obligations, and answers customer questionnaires faster. Our compliance support team can turn it into a pack ready for your auditor.
For private equity backed businesses, the same records help in technical due diligence, whether you are buying or preparing to sell.
How it differs from board advisory and consultancy
A fractional CxO is part of your leadership team and owns delivery. Board advisory gives your directors independent challenge and briefings, without anyone running the programme day to day. Cyber security consultancy delivers a defined project with an end date, such as an assessment or a policy set.
Many clients combine them. Your fractional CxO can bring in consultants for specialist work and still own the result.
Services that work alongside
Your CxO can direct the rest of our services as your plan needs them. Penetration testing and threat and vulnerability management test the controls they put in place. Architecture and design turns their technology direction into designs your engineers can build, and user awareness training helps your staff follow the policies they set.
Frequently asked questions
Fill the empty seat at the table
Tell us where leadership is missing and what is waiting on a decision. We will suggest which role fits, how much time it needs and what your first quarter would deliver.