Designed for skilled professionals exploring part‑time, job‑share, or fractional leadership careers.
Jump to:
- What counts as professional part-time work?
- Where to find professional part-time roles
- How to position yourself and uncover opportunities
- Negotiating part-time or flexible hours
- Beyond finding and negotiating – making it work
- Flexible working request templates
- Summary
- FAQs: Finding and negotiating part-time work in the UK
- Final thoughts: How to find professional part-time jobs
- References & further reading
What counts as professional part‑time work?
- Fractional leadership: Senior roles (CFO, CMO) held part-time across one or more organisations .
- Job‑share and kebab‑sliced weeks: (E.g. four-day model) in corporate, legal, finance and tech firms .
Where to find professional part‑time roles
How to position yourself & uncover opportunities
- Head into interviews early with your preferences in mind. Be ready to open up the negotiation conversation after receiving an offer: e.g., “I’m open to a full‑time offer, but four‑day or job‑share models are preferred”.
- Target companies with active flexible‑working policies. Check their careers page, LinkedIn announcements, or recent press, or look on flexible job boards.
Negotiating part-time or flexible hours
1️⃣ Know your rights and context:
From April 2024, UK employees can request flexible working from day one and twice per year; employers must respond in two months.
Understand legal protections that prevent part‑timers being treated less favourably than full‑timers.
2️⃣ Build a business-centric proposal
Research internal policy and benchmark colleagues’ flexibility.
Draft a clear plan: Hours, core time, remote days, clients, deadlines. Anticipate obstacles and propose solutions.
Tie it to commercial outcomes: quality, retention, productivity, budget savings.
3️⃣ Navigation and negotiation
Start informally, test the waters, and build support before formal request.
Offer trial periods or flexible concessions (e.g. two days remote initially).
Keep all dialogues written and trackable if possible.
4️⃣ Use ivee email templates
ivee offers precise templates for requesting part‑time hours, flexible working in offers, or within current roles.
Adapt formal requests to include your proposal, rationale, starting date and reminder of legal rights (if needed).
Beyond finding and negotiating - making it work
- Evaluate the financial impact: Pro rata salary, benefits, holiday entitlement vs. commuting, childcare savings.
- Track results: deliverables, KPIs, client satisfaction. These metrics help cement your arrangement.
- Be flexible: show readiness to tweak arrangements if business needs change.
Summary
FAQs: Finding and negotiating part-time work in the UK
Final thoughts: How to find professional part-time jobs
The “job‑share”, “fractional” and four‑day week models are shifting the landscape for professional part‑time employment, especially in sectors with high female returners seeking career-life balance. By actively searching, preparing strong business cases, negotiating with clarity and reinforcing value, professionals can successfully tap into white‑collar part‑time roles in the UK.
ivee is an all-in-one platform for your return to work journey. Sign up to access hand-vetted flexible jobs, free upskilling, and a community of UK jobseekers.
References & further reading
- ACAS – Making a flexible working request
- ivee – How to negotiate flexible work
- Gov.UK – Flexible working & employee rights
- Working Families – Advice for part-time workers
- CIPD – Flexible working resources
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