What a fractional executive costs here
The Virtual C-Suite publishes its retainer ranges. A single seat (general counsel, CIO or chief security officer) runs $2,500 to $14,000 a month depending on the hours band. The three-seat team runs $6,000 to $35,000 a month. There is no placement fee, no success fee and no minimum beyond the first 90 days.
Retainer ranges
| Seat | Advisoryabout 8 hrs/mo | Workingabout 16 hrs/mo | Embeddedabout 30 hrs/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual General Counsel | $2,500 to $4,000 | $5,000 to $8,000 | $9,000 to $14,000 |
| Virtual CIO | $2,500 to $4,000 | $5,000 to $8,000 | $9,000 to $14,000 |
| Virtual Chief Security Officer | $2,500 to $4,000 | $5,000 to $8,000 | $9,000 to $14,000 |
| Three-seat team | $6,000 to $10,000 | $12,000 to $20,000 | $22,000 to $35,000 |
Seats can be mixed across bands (an embedded CIO with an advisory general counsel, for example); the team price is the sum of the seats less 15 to 20%. Where a seat lands inside its band depends on company size, the number of sites and whether a compliance deadline is in play; we tell you the number on the first call.
First 90 days
Priced as three months at the working band for the seats engaged, billed as one fixed figure (a single seat is $15,000 to $24,000; the three-seat team is $36,000 to $60,000). It covers the review, the findings list and the first quarter of work. If the retainer continues, month four starts at whichever band the review set.
How does this compare to hiring?
A full-time general counsel in the DC market costs $250,000 to $600,000 a year fully loaded. A CIO or CISO, $250,000 to $400,000. Three seats, about $900,000, plus recruiting fees at 20 to 30% of first-year salary. The three-seat team here runs $72,000 to $420,000 a year depending on the bands, and at the top of that range you have all three partners in your business about 90 hours a month. Run your own numbers on the calculator.
Calculator →What is included
- The monthly leadership meeting
- phone and email access to the partners between meetings
- review of contracts, plans, vendor proposals and incidents you send
- the quarterly scope review
- a shared workspace where the plan and findings live [confirm tool]
What costs extra
- Litigation and transactional legal work beyond review (quoted per matter)
- on-site work outside the DMV (travel at cost)
- third-party costs we pass through at cost (filings, assessments, software)
- project work above the band, agreed in writing before it starts
Why publish prices?
Because every owner we talk to asks on the first call, and because the firms that do not publish them are usually hiding a markup. These numbers are what the three partners charge for their own time.