Upwards
Digital Leadership
Senior digital expertise, without the senior hire. We work alongside your leadership team as an embedded digital director - setting strategy, managing suppliers, and building the internal capability to eventually need us less.
What we do
Many organisations sit in an uncomfortable middle ground: too large to function without serious digital leadership, too small to justify a full-time Head of Digital. The result is usually a senior generalist trying to cover too much ground, or a series of disconnected suppliers with nobody holding the strategic thread.
A fractional digital director gives you the senior expertise without the overhead. Someone who knows your organisation, attends your leadership meetings, challenges your thinking, manages your digital suppliers, and makes sure the work your team is doing is pointed at the right things.
The goal is always to build internal capability over time. A good fractional engagement should end with your organisation needing external support for specific projects, not for day-to-day direction.
How we work
Fractional engagements are bespoke by nature. Some organisations need two days a month; others need two days a week for a fixed period. We agree the scope, the rhythm and the objectives at the start and review regularly.
Typical activities include: strategic oversight of digital activity, supplier briefing and management, budget advice and procurement support, governance and policy development, internal digital training, and attendance at leadership and board meetings where digital is on the agenda.
We also offer standalone digital governance work for organisations that need a clearer framework for how digital decisions are made – policies, standards, escalation processes – without an ongoing retainer.
What's included
- Fractional Head of Digital retainer
- Digital strategy ownership and oversight
- Supplier briefing and management
- Budget advice and procurement support
- Digital governance and policy development
- Leadership and board-level advisory
- Internal digital training and capability building
Typical engagements
Fractional retainer – ongoing monthly, typically 1–4 days per month depending on scope
Digital governance – one-off project, 4–8 weeks
Fixed-term oversight – for specific projects or transitions
Good fit if...
Fractional role
You don't have a Head of Digital but your organisation's digital work is significant enough to need one.
Supplier management
Your digital suppliers are unmanaged or under-briefed.
Board level
Digital keeps coming up at board level and nobody feels confident owning it.
Key features
Genuinely senior
This isn't account management dressed up as leadership. We've held senior digital roles across commercial, agency and third-sector environments for over two decades.
Building toward independence
We're transparent about what your organisation needs to develop internally. A dependency that never ends is not a good outcome for anyone.
Embedded, not visiting
We work as part of your team, not as an external consultant who attends quarterly reviews. The distinction matters in practice.
Honest about fit
Fractional leadership only works if the relationship is right. We'll tell you early if we don't think it is.