Across Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltics, more companies are turning to fractional executives — part-time, high-impact leaders who provide C-level expertise without the cost or permanence of a full-time hire.
This trend, already mainstream in the US and Western Europe, is accelerating sharply in CEE in 2025. According to Gartner’s HR Leadership Vision 2025, 58% of organisations plan to expand their use of part-time or external strategic leadership talent. McKinsey, Deloitte, Hays, and EY confirm similar patterns across Europe — signalling a structural labour shift.
Executive Summary
- Fractional CFO, CMO, CTO, and Legal Counsel roles are rising fastest across CEE.
- Companies prefer fractional hiring for expansion, fundraising, compliance, and digital strategy.
- Cost efficiency is a major driver: 1 senior leader at 20–40% capacity is more effective than a mid-level full-timer.
- Talent availability widened thanks to remote work and cross-border contracts.
- Candidates adopt portfolio careers, balancing multiple clients and higher earnings.
🌍 Why Fractional Leadership Is Exploding in CEE
Multiple macro-shifts across the region contribute to the rapid adoption of fractional models:
Many mid-sized companies cannot justify a full-time CFO/CMO/GC, but still require senior strategic expertise. A fractional setup gives them access to top-tier leadership at 20–40% of the full-time cost.
Polish, Ukrainian, and Baltic companies expanding into EU markets use fractional executives for compliance, go-to-market strategy, and financial structuring — often before building a permanent local team.
Remote leadership models make it easy to work with specialists across CEE or Western Europe. Geography is no longer a barrier to bringing in an experienced CFO, CMO, or Legal Director a few days per week.
According to Hays CEE 2025, strategic Finance, Legal, and Tech roles face persistent deficits across the region. Fractional work fills the gap by allowing one senior leader to support several organisations in parallel.
Senior professionals increasingly prefer project-based work, higher autonomy, and diversified income streams. This mirrors Deloitte’s “Portfolio Economy” trend in their 2025 Human Capital Report.
📌 The Fastest-Growing Fractional Roles in 2025
- Fractional CFO — fundraising, investor relations, FP&A, restructuring
- Fractional CMO — digital strategy, brand, activation, growth
- Fractional GC / Legal Director — ESG, regulatory, cross-border compliance
- Fractional CTO / Head of Engineering — architecture, AI adoption, team scaling
- Fractional HRBP / People Lead — transformation, culture, performance systems
💼 Why Companies Choose Fractional Leaders
- Access to senior expertise at 20–40% cost of a full-time role
- Flexibility — scale leadership up or down based on business cycles
- Fast onboarding and quick wins (fractional leaders specialise in acceleration)
- No long-term employment risk
- Ideal for startups, scale-ups, and mid-market companies entering new markets
🔎 What TALANTY PARTNERS Sees in CEE
Across Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltics, we see companies increasingly replacing:
- a full-time CFO → with a 2-day-per-week fractional CFO
- a slow, costly marketing hire → with a senior fractional CMO for 3–6 months
- generalist legal support → with a specialist GC for regulatory projects
Companies move faster, reduce hiring risk, and gain access to senior talent they otherwise would not afford.
📬 Need help hiring fractional leadership talent?
At TALANTY PARTNERS, we support clients across CEE in hiring fractional CFOs, CMOs, Legal Counsels, CTOs, and transformation leaders.
If you're exploring fractional leadership, benchmarking models, or need support with a strategic search, we’d be happy to help.
📫 Contact us: contact@talanty.partners