What Are the Most Common, and Least Common, Fractional Roles?
The most common fractional roles today are for finance leadership (e.g. Fractional CFOs), marketing leadership (e.g. Fractional CMOs), and engineering leadership (Fractional CTOs). However, just about any senior role you can think of is being done fractionally.
Some of the roles rising in popularity include the Fractional Head of Sales, Fractional Head of People / CHRO, and the Fractional COO.
What the Data Shows
Fractional Jobs recently analyzed 647 fractional job postings, and the breakdown is below.
Most Popular:
- Finance (22%)
- Engineering (18%)
- Marketing (18%)
Rising in popularity:
- Sales (9%)
- Operations (8%)
- People / HR (5%)
Least Common:
- Analytics (3%)
- Product (3%)
- Legal (2%)
If you’re doing fractional work, or looking to hire fractional, in one of the less common areas, DO NOT PANIC. There are countless successful Fractional Chief Data Officers, Fractional General Counsels, and Fractional Heads of Product. In fact, Fractional Jobs’ founder Taylor Crane was a Fractional Head of Product for a year before starting Fractional Jobs.
Why Some Roles Are More Popular Than Others
What makes some fractional roles more popular than others has to do with how companies think about solving needs within their org.
If a company has a burning Finance need, their first instinct is almost certainly to bring in an expert vs. trying to do it themselves.
Conversely, if a company has messy operations, the first instinct is likely to be to try to improve it with existing resources instead of hiring someone new.
Fractional Jobs calls this Level 1 Fractional Hiring (e.g. Fractional CFOs), vs. Level 2 Fractional Hiring (e.g. Fractional COOs). There’s even a Level 3.
As fractional work gains adoption, companies will naturally graduate from Level 1 to Level 2, to Level 3, etc., paving the way for more and more fractional opportunities.
To read more about the different levels, check out “Why Don’t I See Any Fractional Jobs in My Function Area?”
Who Wrote This Guide?
I’ve helped 100+ companies hire fractional execs and other fractional talent. I also spent a year as a Fractional Head of Product.
I intimately understand how fractional work works from both sides of the table. And this guide is meant to help everyone get up to speed on the fractional world, quickly.
What to read next
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