When a senior FM or estates role falls vacant, or a project lands that the current team cannot absorb, the first question is not who to hire. It is what kind of appointment the organisation actually needs. Choosing between an interim and a permanent hire is a decision about risk, time and outcomes, and getting it wrong is expensive either way.
When an interim is the right call
An interim makes sense when the need is urgent, time-limited or defined by a specific outcome. Typical situations include:
- Vacancy cover: keeping services and compliance under control while a permanent search runs.
- Change and transformation: a restructure, an outsourcing decision or a service redesign that needs someone with no stake in the old model.
- Mobilisation and relocation: opening a new building, moving headquarters or bringing a new contract into operation.
- Recovery: a compliance or service failure that needs fixing quickly and credibly.
- Bridging: holding the role steady while the organisation works out what the permanent job should be.
Change work is the most common reason organisations bring in interims. According to the Institute of Interim Management's 2026 survey, change or transformation management is the most common primary purpose of interim assignments, at 37%.
When a permanent hire is better
If the role is stable, the priorities are clear and the organisation needs someone to build a team and a culture over years, a permanent appointment is usually the better investment. An interim who stays for several years in a business-as-usual role is often a sign that a permanent decision has been put off.
A simple test: if you can write down what done looks like and roughly when it should happen, you are describing an interim assignment. If you cannot, you are probably describing a permanent job.
Writing an interim brief
Interim briefs fail when they read like permanent job descriptions. A good one sets out:
- the outcomes the interim must deliver, written so that you can check them
- the expected duration and the end state at handover
- the decisions the interim can make without referral
- who they report to and how progress will be reviewed
- what the interim will hand over, and to whom
Duration matters. The Institute of Interim Management's 2026 survey found the average interim assignment now lasts 10.0 months, up from 9.6 months in 2025. Plan for review points rather than assuming the assignment will end on the original date.
Thinking about cost
Interims are usually paid a day rate. The same survey put the average interim management day rate across all sectors at £907 in 2026. That is a cross-sector figure, not an FM or estates benchmark, and rates vary with seniority, scope and location.
Compare the day rate with the full cost of the alternative: an unfilled role, a failed project or a compliance problem left open. If you are an interim setting your own rate, our day rate calculator lets you compare scenarios.
Organisations must also assess the employment status of anyone they engage for tax purposes, and should take professional advice on how that applies to each assignment.
Assessing interim candidates
An interim has to be credible on day one. There is no settling-in period on a fixed-term assignment. Ask for evidence of delivery in short windows: what they inherited, what they changed in the first month, and what they left behind. Speak to referees about the handover as well as the results.
Our SailGP case study shows how an interim facilities project manager was found for a headquarters move to London, where the candidate had to be effective quickly.
For the full picture, from briefing and governance to exit and handover, and a section for interim professionals, download our Insights ebook The Interim FM and Estates Guide.
Talk to Maxwell Stephens
Maxwell Stephens has specialised in Facilities Management, estates and workplace recruitment since 2006. If you are planning an FM, estates or workplace appointment, contact us for a confidential conversation, or read our case studies to see how comparable searches were run.
