Leadership and
Capability Building

Fractional means leadership on a part-time, flexible, or project basis. Hiring a permanent design leader can be expensive and time-consuming, so there is increasingly value found in bringing experienced leaders into organisations through a fractional arrangement.

Hiring a fractional leader can be a way to fast-track common challenges, particularly as a team grows.

There are many situations when a business might need the on-demand expertise of a fractional or interim leader. I've written more about my experience for Leading Design.

This varies based on the size of your team, it's maturity, and any challenges the business needs to overcome.

The minimum commitment would be 4 hours a week, but 6-10 days per month is a typical engagement agreement for many organisations looking to benefit from fractional expertise.

For access to contract leadership with higher levels of contact time, it is worth considering interim design leadership on a more full-time basis.

Absolutely. I've done this before, most recently for a large financial services company going through a restructure.

I led the team as Interim Head of Design & UX for nine months. This period culminated with helping hire a permanent leader, and I would extend my relationship with the organisation to help coach this person as they transitioned into the role.

Hiring designers can be tough, especially if you're not from a design background.

There's a confusing array of job titles and it can be tough to know exactly what you need, and when. UX, UI, Product Design, Service Design, Content Design... where do you start?

I've interviewed and hired designers across a variety of design specialisms and experience levels for both in-house and agency roles. I've reviewed hundreds of CVs and portfolios, and built out capabilities with permanent and contract talent.

Most recently I helped a seed stage startup understand who their first design hire should be (spoiler: it wasn't what they had previously been looking for). I refined their job advert and got them comfortable with current salary and benefit expectations.

At the other end of the scale, I recently helped grow the capabilities of a FinTech design team going through a period of transformation and restructure. I led the hiring and retention efforts for permanent talent, as well as bringing contract designers into the business to help with both delivery and maturity.