17 answers · Fractional and temporary management in Italy
Fractional and temporary management: questions answered
The questions owners, shareholders and boards ask before awarding a mandate: definitions, real market pricing, contracting, duration, how results are measured and the cases where a fractional manager is the wrong answer. Answered by Niklas Lindahl, fractional executive in Milan, Italy and across Europe.
Definitions and roles
What is a fractional manager?
A fractional manager is a senior executive who works for a company part of the time, typically two to eight days a month, in an executive rather than purely advisory role. They make decisions, manage people and are accountable for agreed numbers. Unlike a consultant they execute, and unlike an employee the engagement is part time and time bound.
What is the difference between a temporary manager and a fractional manager?
A temporary manager works full time for a defined period, usually 6 to 18 months, and is used to fill a gap or handle a crisis. A fractional manager works part time on an ongoing basis, often 12 to 24 months, and is used when senior capability is needed continuously but a full time executive is not justified. Cost, presence and the type of problem decide which one fits.
Is an interim manager the same as a temporary manager in Italy?
Yes. In Italy the two terms describe the same role: an external executive appointed for a fixed term with real operating authority. Interim manager is the term used in international groups, temporary manager is the more common Italian wording.
What does a fractional CEO actually do?
A fractional CEO runs the company part time: sets priorities, leads the management team, owns cash and margin, handles banks, shareholders and investors and reports to the board. In typical mandates (generational transition, exit preparation, turnaround, private equity entry) they are formally appointed as amministratore delegato with defined signing powers.
How do fractional CMO, CRO, COO, CFO and CTO roles differ?
The fractional CMO owns positioning, channels and demand; the CRO makes revenue predictable across pipeline, pricing and sales team; the COO fixes operations, processes and organisation; the CFO owns management control, the 13 week cash plan and bank and investor relations; the CTO governs architecture, vendors and release cadence. All work two to eight days a month against numeric objectives.
Cost and contracts
How much does a fractional manager cost in Italy in 2026?
The Italian market for fractional and temporary management runs between 800 and 1,500 EUR per day, which at 4 to 8 days a month means roughly 3,500 to 12,000 EUR monthly. Niklas Lindahl's rate is 2,000 EUR per day for C-level mandates, priced against executive accountability rather than project consulting.
Is a fractional manager cheaper than hiring a full time executive?
For mandates shorter than about 24 months, yes. A hired director in Italy costs a company roughly 170,000 EUR a year fully loaded, plus recruitment, severance and ramp-up time. A fractional mandate carries no severance, no long term incentive and no exit cost, and can start within weeks.
How is a fractional or temporary mandate contracted in Italy?
Usually as a professional services contract with an Italian VAT number, billed as a fixed monthly retainer, specifying duration, minimum days, objectives, delegated authority, confidentiality and a notice period of 30 or 60 days. Where signing powers are needed, a formal board appointment with written power of attorney is added.
Can fees be linked to results?
Partly. The standard structure is a fixed retainer covering time plus a variable component tied to verifiable outcomes such as EBITDA, cash, closing a funding round or an exit, or entering a new market. In startups equity can appear, typically 0.1 to 1 percent with vesting. A fully success-based mandate distorts priorities and is avoided.
How a mandate works
How does a fractional engagement start?
With a free scoping call, followed by a two week diagnostic in which the manager reads the numbers, talks to the team and customers and maps the bottlenecks. The diagnostic ends in a one page mandate: objectives, authority, cadence, duration, price. Execution starts only once that document is signed.
How many days per month does a fractional mandate need?
Four to eight days a month suits most Italian SMEs below 20 million EUR in revenue. Below four days the role slides into advisory and loses executive weight. Above eight days a full time temporary manager over a shorter period is usually the better structure.
How long does a mandate last?
6 to 18 months for a temporary manager, 12 to 24 months for a fractional manager. Every mandate should have an exit date from day one and a handover plan to an internal hire. A mandate that keeps extending without a reason is a sign the objectives were never measurable.
Does the fractional manager work on site or remotely?
Both. Operating days happen on site, typically in Milan and Lombardy with travel to Rome, Turin, Bologna and the rest of Italy; reviews, committees and board preparation run remotely. For European mandates the usual rhythm is one week a month on site plus remote cadence.
Fit and Niklas Lindahl
What company size fits a fractional mandate?
Typically 2 to 50 million EUR in revenue with 10 to 250 people. Below 2 million a C-level rate rarely pays back and a few advisory days are a better fit. Above 50 million the structure usually supports a hired executive, except for specialist time bound mandates.
When is a fractional manager the wrong choice?
When the job genuinely needs someone full time every day; when ownership will not delegate real decisions; when the problem is purely technical or legal and needs a specialist; when the company only wants a name for a pitch deck; when cash cannot cover three months of retainer and debt restructuring has to come first.
Who is Niklas Lindahl?
Niklas Lindahl is a Swedish-Italian fractional executive based in Milan, working as fractional CEO, CMO, CRO and COO for scale-ups, SMEs and family businesses across Italy and Europe. He has over 15 years of leadership roles across Italy, the UK, Sweden and the United States, contributed to the 607 million EUR MGM exit and to growth stories with revenue expansion above 500 percent.
How do you get in touch?
Only through the contact form on gofractional.it. No email address or phone number is published. The first scoping call is free and its purpose is to establish whether the problem suits a fractional mandate at all.
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