Interim HR Director

When to bring in an interim HR director

A restructuring

A collective redundancy plan, a site closure or transfer, a deep reorganisation. Under French law these procedures demand a fine command of labour regulations, a timetable held to the day, and the ability to preserve fairness and respect for people through a difficult period. An interim HR director who has led several secures the process and protects what must be protected: the trust of those who stay.

Post-merger integration

Harmonising the employment terms, agreements and cultures of two companies is a programme in its own right, with its own bodies, negotiations and risks. The assignment format entrusts it to an HR executive who will not stay, and who can therefore handle sensitive issues without career considerations in the back of their mind.

Damaged labour relations

A hard conflict, entrenched distrust between management and employee representatives, blocked negotiations. An experienced third party with no history with the players in place can rebuild the dialogue: it is often their absence of a past in the company that gives them their legitimacy.

A vacancy, or a function to build

The HR director leaves, or the HR function has stayed embryonic in a mid-market company that grew fast. The interim HR director holds the position, installs the processes and tools, and shapes a role that is finally legible for the permanent hire you will recruit without rushing.

Typical interim HR director assignments

The core of the mandate almost always involves leading a sensitive operation: running an information and consultation procedure and the associated redundancy plan while respecting both the timetable and the people, negotiating a structuring agreement, harmonising employment terms after an acquisition, or taking a degraded social climate back in hand.

Around that core, the interim HR director runs the function day to day: payroll and personnel administration secured, the HR team managed and upskilled, executive committees kept clear-eyed on social risks, and a handover prepared from the first weeks: documenting the agreements, ongoing procedures and commitments made, so the permanent hire inherits a function in good order.

The Bloomco approach

On HR mandates more than anywhere else, we select on the situation already handled: an HR director who has already led a collective redundancy plan or a post-merger harmonisation beats a profile from your sector who never has. Client references are checked before any profile is put forward, and the confidentiality of the need is preserved at every step: a reorganisation project must not leak through its own recruitment.

The set-up is constant: framing with your leadership, two to three profiles presented within days from a community of 6,000+ independent consultants and interim managers, an engagement letter setting objectives and scope of authority, and a Bloomco lead through to handover. Our teams operate from Paris, Lyon and Lille, working closely with our HR consulting practice.

Frequently asked questions

How is confidentiality protected?

The need is qualified under confidentiality with your leadership, profiles are approached without naming the company until it becomes necessary, and the discretion framework is written into the engagement letter. It is standard method on sensitive mandates.

How quickly can an interim HR director start?

A few days to two weeks, qualification and interviews included. On a procedure with a statutory timetable, that lead time is often the decisive argument against the twelve-week average of an executive recruitment measured by APEC.

How much does an interim HR director cost?

The market's average billed rate stood at €1,333 per day excluding VAT in the first half of 2025 according to France Transition; at Bloomco, executive functions range from €1,500 to €1,800 per day. See our day rate barometer.

Interim HR director or HR consulting firm?

A consulting firm recommends and supports; an interim HR director runs the function and carries managerial responsibility for their decisions, including before employee bodies. When the operation must be led and the function held at the same time, the assignment format wins. Our comparison interim manager or independent consultant sets out the distinction.