Directors

Exec Capital recruits directors and functional heads across every discipline: managing directors, finance, HR, sales, marketing, commercial, operations, IT, technical and strategy directors, and the specialist roles that sit alongside them, from supply chain and procurement to investor relations, communications, sustainability and transformation. We place on permanent, interim, part-time and fractional terms. Director-level appointments sit immediately below or alongside the C-suite and carry direct accountability for the performance of a defined part of the business, which makes them among the most commercially consequential hires a company makes.

This page is the index to our director practice. Each function below links to the relevant service page, and to the matching job description where we have one. If you are not sure whether you need a director, a C-suite officer or a flexible appointment, the next two sections are a good place to start.

Director or C-suite officer?

The titles overlap and businesses use them inconsistently, but the distinction that matters is scope. A C-suite officer owns an enterprise-wide agenda and is usually accountable to the board for it: the CFO for capital structure, funding and investor relationships, the COO for the whole operating model. A director typically owns a function or business area, runs it day to day and reports into the C-suite or, in a smaller company, straight to the managing director or owners.

In practice, many UK businesses below roughly mid-market scale do not need a full C-suite. A strong finance director performs the CFO role in most owner-managed companies; the step up to a CFO search usually comes with institutional investment, a group structure or an exit in view. Our guide on when a firm needs a CFO rather than a finance director sets out the triggers, and the same logic applies to the COO and the operations director, or the CEO and the managing director (see managing director vs CEO).

One point is worth separating out. A job title containing “director” does not make someone a statutory director. Only those appointed to the board and registered at Companies House take on the legal duties set out in the general duties of directors in the Companies Act 2006; government guidance on being a company director summarises what that involves. Since 18 November 2025, Companies House has required directors to verify their identity, so if a functional director is also joining the board, build that into the appointment timetable. Where you need board-level appointments rather than functional heads, see board of directors recruitment.

Permanent, interim or part-time director?

The right engagement model depends on what the business needs and for how long:

• Permanent suits an established function that needs a long-term owner, or a newly created role the business is confident it can sustain. It is the slowest route but gives continuity and a leader who builds the team around them.
• Interim covers a gap or a defined project at full-time intensity: a sudden departure, a turnaround, a system implementation or a sale process. Our interim executive recruitment practice places interim directors across functions, including the interim sales director, interim marketing director and interim operations director roles we are asked for most often.
• Part-time or fractional gives a smaller business director-level judgement for one or two days a week, at a cost it can carry. The most common examples are the part-time finance director and the part-time HR director; for officer-level equivalents, see our fractional C-suite service.

Interim and part-time appointments often convert to permanent once the business has grown into the role, and some clients use an interim director to shape a function before running the permanent search.

Director roles we recruit, by function

Select a function to see how we approach that search. Directors’ pay varies widely by sector, size and region; our directors’ salary guide is the starting point for benchmarking.

Managing Director recruitment

The managing director is usually the most senior operational leader below the board, and in many SMEs and owner-managed businesses runs the company day to day. We recruit MDs who can build teams, drive commercial performance and represent the business externally.

Job descriptions: Managing director job description · How to hire a managing director

Finance Director recruitment

The finance director owns reporting, controls, cash, tax compliance and business partnering, and in most companies below CFO level effectively performs the CFO function. Our sister firm FD Capital specialises in fractional and interim finance leadership.

Job descriptions: Finance director job description · Director of finance job description

HR Director recruitment

We recruit at genuine director level, where the individual has board or executive committee access and drives people strategy, organisation design and talent rather than administering policy.

Job descriptions: HR director job description · Director of talent job description

Sales, marketing and communications directors

Revenue-facing directors are judged quickly. We look for people who have built and led teams in comparable businesses, not strong individual performers who have never run a function.

Job descriptions: Sales director · Business development director · Marketing director · Director of search marketing · Export director

Commercial, strategy and transformation directors

These roles shape where the business competes and how it changes: pricing and key accounts, corporate strategy and M&A, and transformation programmes, including the move to sustainable operations.

Job descriptions: Commercial director · Strategy director

Operations, supply chain and procurement directors

An operations director in a distribution business faces different problems from one in a professional services firm, so we assess against the operating model the candidate will actually run.

Job descriptions: Operations director · Director of quality assurance

IT, technical, engineering and digital directors

Technology directors range from running infrastructure and service delivery to leading product and engineering teams. We separate these profiles at the briefing stage.

Job descriptions: Director of IT · Technical director · Director of digital

Risk, compliance and governance directors

For regulated firms, some of these roles carry senior manager functions and need FCA or PRA approval before the person can start, which affects timing.

Job descriptions: Director of risk and compliance · Company secretary

Financial services and family office directors

Director and head-of roles in banking, broking and private wealth, where sector knowledge and regulatory standing matter as much as functional skill.

What makes a director appointment work

Director hires go wrong for a small number of predictable reasons, and a good process tests for each of them:

• Wrong stage experience. A finance director who has run reporting for a large group is not automatically equipped to build a function from scratch in a smaller business. Stage and context predict success better than seniority.
• Functional depth without leadership. Many strong specialists have never hired, developed or held a team to account. We test this through structured references on specific leadership situations, because interviews rarely reveal it.
• Poor fit with the people above them. A director has to work with the owners, MD or C-suite they report to. We assess working style and expectations on both sides, rather than treating fit as an afterthought.

Every search is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate. We start with a detailed brief, agree the profile and engagement model with you, and present a shortlist of assessed candidates rather than a pile of CVs.

Frequently asked questions

Is a functional director a company director in law?

Only if they are formally appointed to the board and registered at Companies House. Otherwise “director” is a job title and the statutory duties do not apply.

Can an interim director move to a permanent role?

Yes. Many interim and part-time appointments convert once the business is confident the role is needed full time. Agree how that would work at the outset.

Do you recruit directors outside London?

Yes. We recruit across the UK, from our offices in London and the West Midlands, and many director roles are now hybrid.