Interim management: can a senior executive build a career on it?

A temporary leader who has real decisions to make

Interim management means handing an operational responsibility to an outside executive for a defined period. It is not consulting: a consultant recommends, whereas an interim manager decides and acts, with delegated powers and teams to lead.

The situations vary widely: the unexpected departure of a director, the reorganisation of a site, a merger, the turnaround of a subsidiary, the launch of a transformation project or the setting up of a function that did not exist before. The company wants someone who is operational straight away and can deliver results without a long settling-in period.

Why senior experience is in demand

Several reasons explain why this profession attracts so many executives over 50. The assignments are often delicate and call for perspective, natural authority and familiarity with tense situations. A leader who has already been through several crises knows how to set priorities and reassure staff.

Seniority alone is not enough, however. Agencies expect demonstrable results, real availability, ease in unfamiliar organisations and the ability to work quickly with teams that did not choose the newcomer. Age is neither an automatic advantage nor an obstacle: it is the track record that gets examined.

Who is this career suited to?

In most cases it is aimed at former company heads or senior managers who have held leadership posts in general management, finance, production, human resources, sales, information systems or supply chain. A few qualities come up regularly:

• the ability to decide with incomplete information;
• a sense of dialogue with employee representatives, shareholders and banks;
• the capacity to get up to speed quickly in an unfamiliar sector;
• a taste for short assignments and frequent changes of setting;
• acceptance that you will not stay: the aim is to hand over and then leave.

Executives who prefer the stability of a single employer may find this rhythm wearing.

Status and pay: how it works

An interim manager usually works as a self-employed professional, for example through a personal company or, where the rules allow, a micro-enterprise, and occasionally through salary portage. The agency or the client signs an assignment contract with them setting out the purpose, the duration, the deliverables and the rate. These terms describe the French set-up, and other countries use their own equivalents.

Pay is most often expressed as a daily rate, with no guaranteed number of days per year. The gaps between assignments are unpaid, and contributions, professional insurance and protection against illness or disability have to be arranged by the manager. Amounts vary by sector, company size and level of responsibility, so it is better to check them with several sources.

For a retired person, combining the work with a pension depends on the scheme and on accrued rights, so a check with the funds concerned is essential.

How agencies select candidates

Interim management firms build up pools of managers. The selection generally follows several stages: a review of the CV and a short statement of your pitch, a qualification interview, sometimes personality or motivation questionnaires, reference checks and then an in-depth interview with an assignment lead.

Profiles are then put forward to companies according to their needs. Being registered with a network does not guarantee an immediate assignment: some managers wait several months while others are approached quickly. Approaching several firms while keeping up your own personal network remains the best approach.

Preparing before you start

Several steps can be taken as soon as a job ends, or ahead of a planned departure:

1. Write up three or four comparable situations, covering the context, the decision taken, the result and the part you really played.
2. Choose two or three clear fields of expertise rather than an overly broad generalist profile.
3. Attend information meetings run by the profession's trade bodies.
4. Look at the available training to understand the status, the tax position and the relationship with the agencies.
5. Choose the legal form and build up enough cash for the first few months.

Setting up a solid mandate

A successful assignment starts with a precise brief. Before it begins, it is useful to get the following in writing:

• measurable objectives and the expected deadlines;
• the powers granted: signing authority, budget, hiring and relations with unions;
• the people you report to: the chief executive, shareholders and the management committee;
• the resources available: team, tools and access to data;
• milestone reviews and the conditions for early termination;
• how the handover will be prepared at the end of the assignment.

Without these elements, the manager risks carrying responsibility without the means to act.

An example situation (illustrative)

Take a former industrial director aged 58. A mid-sized company asks her to run a factory for nine months after its manager left abruptly. She steadies production, reassures the teams, recruits a successor together with the management and then organises six weeks of handover. This example is fictional: the length, the role and the outcome vary greatly from one assignment to another.

Risks, limits and alternatives

The work has its drawbacks: assignments sometimes far from home, a heavy mental load, irregular income and difficulty predicting the sequence of contracts. A manager's legal liability can also be engaged depending on the powers received, which is a good reason to look into suitable insurance.

If this framework does not suit you, other routes exist: consulting for companies, non-executive board mandates, mentoring of business leaders, teaching and part-time executive interventions. These options also take time and contacts, and none of them guarantees an income.