Interim CEO
A company without a chief executive doesn't pause — it drifts. Priorities blur, decision authority fragments, and teams fill the vacuum with whatever they think leadership wants. We step in, restore the operating cadence, and hand the seat to a permanent successor in better shape than we found it.
Interim Chief Executive mandates for European companies in turnaround, transition, or scale-up: DACH, Poland and wider Europe. Also see Strategy & Leadership and People & Crisis.
What an interim CEO does
An interim CEO holds the chief executive seat and is accountable for results — not for producing analysis of them. The mandate is operational from day one:
- Turnaround leadership. Diagnosis by week two: the three things that are broken, the one we fix this quarter, and the metrics that tell us it's working. Not a 90-day listening tour — a 90-day performance sprint with a written diagnostic at day 30.
- Leadership transition and bridge. If the founding CEO is stepping back, if a CEO departure was sudden, or if the board needs time to run a proper search, the interim CEO holds the executive function without stalling the business. The organisation keeps running; the search runs in parallel.
- Operating model and cadence. The weekly rhythm of a well-run company — the right meetings with the right information in front of the right decision-makers. We install a cadence that the permanent CEO can inherit, not dismantle.
- Board and investor interface. Board meetings prepared and run with discipline. Investor updates that say what the business actually knows, not what it wishes. Difficult conversations held, not deferred.
- Scale-up from founder-mode. When the company has outgrown its founding operating model but the founder hasn't yet built a management layer, we build it alongside them — or in their place while they move to chair or product.
When to bring in an interim CEO
- The CEO seat is vacant and the board can't run both a proper permanent search and the operating business simultaneously.
- A turnaround is needed — now — and the existing leadership team doesn't have the profile or the authority to run it.
- A PE fund or investor has taken control of a portfolio company and needs an operator in the seat while the permanent hire is identified.
- A founder is transitioning to a different role (chair, product, non-exec) and the company needs an executive bridge before the management layer is ready.
- A sudden CEO departure — resignation, health, shareholder dispute — has left the organisation without a functioning decision authority.
- The company is scaling past the point where founder-mode management works, and the founder needs a co-pilot or successor to build the professional management layer.
How we work
- The first week is listening, the second week is diagnosis. We map the team, the stakeholders, the operating rhythm and the open decisions. By day 10, you have a written brief: the state of the business, the three priorities for the next quarter, and the decision we need to make this week.
- We don't compete with the permanent hire. The interim CEO mandate is designed to strengthen the company for the permanent successor, not to make ourselves indispensable. The board runs the CEO search; we brief the finalist candidates and hand over with a written brief.
- Day rate, capped month, written scope. No retainer for a seat we're not filling. The mandate ends when the permanent CEO is onboarded and the handover brief is delivered.
- The handover is a product. The outgoing pack includes: the operating model, the open strategic decisions, the team assessment, the investor and board relationship map, and the 90-day priorities for the incoming permanent CEO.
Typical engagement shape
- Duration
- 3–9 months, ending when the permanent CEO is seated
- Presence
- Full-week first month; 4 days/week thereafter unless a crisis warrants more
- Starts with
- A two-week scoped mandate letter — continuation is a mutual decision at week two
- Deliverable at exit
- Permanent CEO in seat + written handover: operating model, team assessment, strategic open issues, and 90-day priorities
Where we've run this before
Scaled Primotly from a founder-led team to a self-running 50-person business with a professional management layer — building the operating cadence, the management structure, and the reporting discipline that let the founders step back without the company losing momentum. Embedded transformation leadership at AB InBev's global digital programme, running a distributed executive function across regions where continuity and operating cadence were the critical constraint. See engagements with real numbers →
Related services: Strategy & Leadership · People & Crisis · Interim Management (all roles)
Common questions
What does an interim CEO do?
An interim CEO holds the chief executive seat on a fixed-term basis — typically three to nine months — and runs the company as the accountable executive. That means setting priorities, running the leadership team, managing the board and investor relationship, making operational decisions, and maintaining the organisation's momentum through a transition. Unlike a management consultant who analyses the business, the interim CEO is the business leader for the duration of the mandate. The role ends when a permanent CEO is hired and handed a written briefing.
When should you hire an interim CEO?
When the CEO seat falls vacant and the board can't simultaneously run the business and a proper permanent search. When a turnaround is needed now and the existing leadership team doesn't have the authority or profile to drive it. When a PE fund or investor takes control and needs an operator in the seat before the permanent hire is identified. When a founder is transitioning to a different role and the company needs an executive bridge. If the cost of the seat drifting — in decision quality, team morale, investor confidence — is higher than a day rate, it's time.
What does an interim CEO do in the first 90 days?
The first two weeks are diagnostic: we map the team, the operating model, the cash position, the board dynamics, and the open strategic decisions. By day 10 you have a written brief — the state of the business and the three things that will be addressed in the first quarter. Days 10–30: the operating cadence is restored — the right meetings, the right metrics, the right decision-making rhythm. Days 30–90: the priority items are in execution, the permanent CEO search is running in parallel, and the organisation is measurably more stable than it was at day one.
How much does an interim CEO cost?
Interim CEO day rates in Europe vary by the scale of the business, the complexity of the mandate, and whether it involves a turnaround, a transaction, or a scale-up. We work on a day rate with a capped month and a written scope — not an open retainer. You pay for days worked against a defined brief, and the mandate ends when the permanent CEO is in the seat. We'll give you a specific number for your situation on a first call.
Interim CEO vs. management consultant — what's the difference?
A management consultant produces analysis, frameworks, and recommendations. The client still needs someone to execute them, and the consultant's accountability ends when the engagement does. An interim CEO is the executive — they hold the seat, run the team, answer to the board, and are accountable for the result. You hire a consultant when you need better information; you hire an interim CEO when you need someone to act on it. The mandate ends not with a final presentation but with a permanent successor handed a business in better shape than it was.