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Expand your expertise & experience

Advisory roles offer a powerful way to step beyond your sector and engage with future-focused businesses in areas like climate tech, fintech, AI, and more. As a board advisor, you’ll guide through insight, not execution - gaining broad exposure to new industries while applying your strategic thinking. It’s a unique opportunity to build a diverse, high-impact portfolio that reflects your curiosity, adaptability, and leadership. 

Boost your credibility, accelerate your career 

Taking on an external advisory role signals ambition, strategic thinking, and leadership beyond your day job. You'll gain fresh perspectives, build boardroom confidence, and develop skills that elevate your executive presence. Whether you're eyeing a C-suite move or looking to lead more effectively now, advisory experience shows initiative - and gives you the edge when it matters most. 

Stay at the table, on your terms 

Board advisory roles let you move beyond the daily pressure of executive life while staying engaged at the highest level. You’ll guide strategy, offer insight, and support founders - without managing teams or firefighting operations. It’s a chance to apply your expertise with perspective, not pace. Whether you're winding down or simply craving more balance, advisory work offers meaningful impact without the time constraints that come with full-time exec positions. 

Why Connectd?

Register For Free
52%
increase of advisory boards globally
85%
BA roles include paid or equity
150+
New startups per month

Connections facilitated

With members in 80+ countries, our platform brings together the world’s most ambitious
startups with expert fractional executives, preparing them to join the ranks of household names like Google, Meta, Shopify, and more.

Programme Breakdown

Your Placement

Strengthen your CV and build practical advisory skills through a guaranteed pro bono placement with high-growth startups. Learn to apply your expertise to real business challenges, offering strategic guidance as you step away from an operational focus. Develop your ability to think objectively, solve complex problems, and lay the groundwork for further roles.

  • Build confidence, experience and expertise during a 6 month advisory placement

  • Create lasting connections within the startup ecosystem, laying the foundation for further engagements

  • Placement opportunities across over 100 sectors including emerging and disruptive industries

Programme Breakdown

Innovation Academy

Tap into curated content designed to support your transition into board advisory roles - where strategic thinking, big-picture insight, and expert guidance replace hands-on operational work. Sharpen your ability to add value to high-growth companies and broaden your impact across sectors, building advisory roles into a varied and rewarding fractional career.

  • Learn the fundamental skills, behaviours and attitudes of a board advisor across this 8 module programme

  • Earn up to 30 CPD-accredited points upon completion of the course

  • Curated by industry-leading specialists, educational materials will give you the foundations to succeed

Programme Breakdown

Mentorship

Harness one-to-one support from an experienced expert with a proven track record and their own varied fractional portfolio. Our mentors offer practical advice for building your brand, growing your network, maximising placements and securing paid positions.  

  • Work with expert mentors spanning over 60 sectors, matched to your skills and goals

  • Benefit from impartial insights and confidential conversations in dedicated one-to-one sessions

  • Our flexible mentoring approach means you can enjoy support that fits around your schedule

Programme Breakdown

Our Community

From day one, you'll have access to a collaborative community of fractional leaders and dynamic companies. Join the the conversation on our dedicated community platform and access exclusive events, executive masterclasses, and peer-to-peer support from other experts working in this space.  

  • Join our engaged fractional community to create connections and build your reputation

  • Upskill through webinars, roundtable discussions, and thought-leadership sessions

  • Stay up to date with the latest advisory trends and industry insights

Your learning academy

Research and Due-Diligence

  • Developing strategic research skills

    Hone your research abilities to provide insightful, strategic advisory guidance.

  • Understanding advisory roles in startups:

    Grasp the unique dynamics and impact of advisory roles within startups.

Developing a Board Advisor CV

  • Effective oversight and guidance

    Learn to provide impactful oversight and strategic guidance as an advisor.

  • Translating specialised skills into advisory

    Convert your executive specialisms into valuable, actionable advisory insights.

Board Advisor as a Mentor

  • Clarifying Roles and Expectations

    Define clear boundaries and mutual expectations for successful advisory relationships.

  • Doing VS Advising

    Understand the crucial difference between execution and providing expert counsel.

Leveraging your Network

  • Using your network for business development

    Activate your connections to drive new business opportunities and growth.

  • Develop and expand business networks

    Strategies to strategically build and broaden your high-value professional network.

Securing paid roles

  • Your Board Advisory Brand

    Cultivate a compelling personal brand specifically for board advisory positions.

  • Interview Strategies

    Master effective interview techniques to secure desirable paid advisory roles.

Meet your renowned mentors

Manoj Thacker

Mentor

Martin Clay

Mentor

Lenna Lou

Mentor

Tania Songini

Mentor

Paul Crick

Mentor

Brian Fitzpatrick

Mentor

Frequently asked questions

How can Connectd guarantee my role?

We provide a guaranteed pro bono placement for every member who finishes the online Academy for a particular pathway (Fractional C-suite, Advisor or NED). This Academy provides the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake the placement, which in turn provides you with the practical, hands-on experience of working with a dynamic company, building your skills and competencies and allowing the company to access your expertise.

We have hundreds of high-growth companies, in over 100 sectors, actively seeking the talent they need to drive success. The Connectd platform intelligently matches fractional talent with companies looking for their specific skills and experience, meaning you will have access to a number of highly relevant opportunities; our placement team guarantees that we will find the right pro bono placement for you - and your career progress.

What’s more, once your pro bono placement comes to an end, you can continue to work with the startup if agreeable to both parties, providing the opportunity to negotiate your remuneration as you move forward in the engagement.

How does the Academy work? Is it recognised by an official provider?

The Connectd Academy offers on-demand video content alongside practical follow-up exercises designed to help you build a successful fractional career at your own pace. Simply log in to the platform to access a wide range of modules covering both hard and soft skills.

All content is created and curated by subject matter experts and is fully CPD-accredited, allowing you to leverage your learning outcomes as you expand your fractional portfolio.

How long is a reasonable time to transition into a fractional portfolio career?

Building a diverse and rewarding fractional portfolio can take several years, primarily due to the need for hands-on experience across the three to four core roles that typically define a successful fractional career.

Our Transition to Portfolio programme is designed to support this journey while you remain in full-time corporate employment. Through the Connectd platform, you'll gain practical experience across these roles by working with a range of partner organisations within the Connectd community - accelerating your development, delivering lasting value to companies, and advancing your career trajectory.

What's the difference between Fractional Leadership, Board Advisory and NED?

Fractional leaders are experienced professionals who work on a part-time basis in a senior leadership role (for example, a CFO or Head of Marketing). They are responsible for day-to-day leadership and execution in their area of expertise and will typically be embedded in the management team.

Board advisors provide - often highly targeted - advice to a company or leadership team, as well as mentoring, offering broader guidance and leveraging industry connections. Unlike non-executives, board advisors have no legal or fiduciary responsibilities.

Non-executive directors are formal board members but are not part of the executive management team. They provide oversight, governance and strategic direction, offering an independent and impartial perspective to constructively challenge the executive team. Non-execs must execute legal and fiduciary duties under corporate governance laws.

What is a vesting period and what is reasonable to expect, in terms of equity, as a fractional employee?

Companies, especially startups or early-stage ventures, often compensate fractional employees with equity rather than cash. This approach helps conserve capital while aligning interests, offering a stake in the company’s future success in exchange for expertise, guidance, or part-time leadership.

To manage risk and ensure continued contribution, this equity is typically granted over a vesting period, meaning it is earned incrementally over time or upon meeting certain performance milestones.

A time based agreement might be that a certain amount of shares will vest over an agreed period (commonly between three and five years), whereas performance milestones will typically be measured on key metrics (for example when a revenue target or profitability is met).

Ambition needs expertise. Bring yours. Ready to get started?

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