Market Update: Tech & Change Hot Roles (w/c 1/12)

The Christmas countdown starts!

A noticeably quieter week as we move into the final stretch before Christmas. Activity hasn’t stopped — but you can clearly see organisations shifting into year-end mode: fewer new briefs, more role recycling, and a general slowdown across both interim and permanent mandates. Still, leadership hiring continues at a steady baseline, especially in government, financial services, retail, and PE-backed environments.

📊 Volume & Mix

31 roles total this week

• Permanent: ~19

• Interim: ~12

• Channel: Mostly agency-led, with a handful of direct appointments across government, charities, and FS.

This is a step down from last week’s 38 — a typical December deceleration.

💡 Key Trends This Week

Transformation & Change still present, but lighter

Interim activity continues, but volumes are softer: Programme Directors, Transformation Directors and data/tech advisors remain, especially in private equity, local government and retail.
ERP-linked roles also appear, but less frequently than earlier in the month.

Permanent hiring holding at a modest level

Fewer new senior appointments were launched this week, but the range remains broad:
CTO, CDO, Heads of Technology, Heads of Data, Infrastructure, Platform Engineering, and Product.
Retail and financial services show recurring demand, while non-profit and public sector roles continue at a predictable pace.

Public Sector steady as always

Government and NHS remain one of the few consistent sources of leadership hiring this late in the year.
CDO, CDTO, Director of Programmes and Information Governance continue to feature regularly.

Data, AI and Cyber roles still in demand

Even with the downturn in volume, a steady mix of CDO, Heads of Data and CISO briefs shows organisations are maintaining investment in core risk, analytics and governance capabilities.

Interim market softening into December

Still active — but noticeably fewer “urgent” mandates.
Private equity remains the most reliable source of late-year interim hiring.

🔁 Week-on-Week

• Down from 38 → 31 roles, continuing the expected pre-Christmas slowdown.

• Interim demand softens slightly again.

• Permanent hiring steady but reduced — reflective of decision-making pausing until January.

Overall tone: measured, predictable softening as organisations focus on delivery and year-end planning, rather than launching new leadership searches.

📅 Month-on-Month (Aug → Dec so far)

(Unchanged summary based purely on your role data)

• August: CIOs, IT Directors, Heads of Function; minimal transformation.

• September: Surge in data, transformation and programme leadership.

• October: Half-term dip; slower permanent hiring and lighter volumes.

• November: Strong overall, but tapering toward month-end.

• December: Clear slowdown as expected pre-Christmas; pockets of activity remain in PE, government and FS.