The market for fractional executives—senior leaders who work with companies on a part-time or project basis—is gaining significant traction in the UAE. This model is particularly popular among SMEs, scale-ups, family businesses, and venture-backed startups that require high-level strategic expertise without the cost and long-term commitment of a full-time C-suite appointment.
Rhys Holding, co-founder of Fractional, reported that enquiries for on-demand executives at his firm have surged by approximately 200 per cent over the past three months. “SMEs are actively asking for access to senior leadership with Fortune 500 experience, without the commitment of a full-time hire, and experienced executives are increasingly choosing fractional roles over permanent ones,” he said.
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The UAE’s SME base underpins this demand. The country now hosts more than 1.4 million registered companies, with 250,000 added in 2025 alone. Research from the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government indicates that SMEs account for approximately 94 per cent of all businesses in the UAE.
Mayank Patel, SVP at Adecco and Head of EEMEA, noted that businesses are becoming increasingly comfortable accessing leadership “as-a-service” across technology, finance, marketing, and leadership functions. “As the number of registered SME companies continues to grow in the UAE, this creates a larger addressable market for fractional leadership solutions,” he added.
Both Adecco and Fractional identified the Chief Financial Officer as the most in-demand role, a trend driven by the introduction of UAE Corporate Tax and growing pressure on businesses to strengthen financial controls and governance. “Companies are focused on financial discipline and cash flow management, corporate tax compliance and governance, budgeting, forecasting and business planning,” Patel explained.
Holding noted that demand is spread broadly across various functions. This includes CFOs brought in ahead of funding rounds or to structure loans, CTOs scaling product and teams, COOs stabilising operations, and CMOs driving go-to-market execution.
The financial incentives for companies are substantial. Fractional leadership typically costs 30 to 60 per cent less than a full-time C-suite hire when factoring in total compensation packages. According to 2025 data from Cooper Fitch, a full-time CFO at a UAE SME commands a base salary of Dh61,000 to Dh92,000 a month, excluding additional benefits and an end-of-service gratuity of up to 8.33 per cent of basic salary per year of service.
Because fractional arrangements are structured on a business-to-business basis, Holding noted, SMEs also avoid visa, insurance, and end-of-service liabilities altogether. This structure provides a leaner operational model for growing firms.
For senior executives, the model offers a route to diversify income and professional experience. “Rather than being tied to a single organisation, a senior leader can work with multiple businesses simultaneously,” Patel said, citing greater flexibility, broader industry exposure, and specialist expertise across several clients as key benefits.
Holding added that most fractional executives at his firm hold two to three concurrent engagements, with rates rising as they build a track record. “What draws experienced executives to fractional work is variety, the chance to work across adjacent industries and keep solving new problems,” he said.
The global shift is also evident. Professionals listing “fractional” in their LinkedIn title grew from approximately 2,000 in 2022 to more than 142,000 by early 2025, according to Axios. Despite this rapid international growth, Patel believes the UAE is still in the early stages of adoption, with significant room for the market to expand as more businesses embrace the flexibility of the fractional model.
Fractional said it is targeting companies with 10 to 200 employees navigating funding rounds, market entry, leadership transitions or restructuring, with executives typically matched and embedded within two to three week
Demand is also rising for fractional chief operating officers to support scaling, chief marketing officers for growth and customer acquisition, chief technology officers for digital transformation, and chief human resources officers for talent strategy.
Sam Loyd, co-founder of Fractional, added: “The fractional model is well established in mature markets and the results speak for themselves.
The UAE is at a point where the conditions that drove that adoption internationally are very much present, and the demand from SMEs for a smarter, more agile approach to senior leadership is growing.”
Fractional said it is targeting companies with 10 to 200 employees navigating funding rounds, market entry, leadership transitions or restructuring, with executives typically matched and embedded within two to three weeks of an initial brief.
Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers.
He frequently reports human interest stories, too.
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