Interim management in the public sector: can an institution use it?

In 2025, contract workers represent only 7% of the State’s senior executives, compared to 23% of all public servants. Are you managing a public institution and a strategic position will become available tomorrow? Interim management in the public sector is still little used. However, it is perfectly legal, including for managing an entire division for the duration of a recruitment.

Contents

• Interim management, a legal option but still unknown in the public sector
• EPIC, EPA: What the Legal Framework Really Allows
• Managing a division while waiting for recruitment: the situations that justify intervention
• Case study: managerial continuity and commercial revival in testing and certification
• WAYDEN, a partner for public institutions in transition
• FAQ
• Sources

Interim management, a legal option but still unknown in the public sector

We often imagine interim management reserved for private companies in crisis or in the midst of sale. This is a preconceived idea. A public institution, an EPIC or a state agency experiences the same ruptures. A director leaves, a position remains vacant, an activity stalls.

The 2019 law on the transformation of the civil service opened up state management jobs to contract workers. Six years later, the results remain mixed. As recalled this deciphering of Public Actors, the legal framework is now favourable. But salary obstacles and a culture attached to internal profiles still hinder the use of external managers.

The figures are clear. According to Observatory of Senior State Executives, contract workers occupy only 7% of senior management jobs, with strong disparities between ministries. The potential is therefore largely under-exploited.

Interim management consists of entrusting operational management to an experienced manager, for a limited period of time and a specific objective. There is nothing legally preventing a public institution from using it to manage a division, secure a transition or turn around an activity.

EPIC, EPA: What the Legal Framework Really Allows

Not all public establishments are alike. An EPA, a public administrative establishment, follows rules similar to the traditional administration. An EPIC, a public establishment of an industrial and commercial nature, operates with methods similar to those of a company. It sells services and must generate revenue.

This distinction changes a lot of things. An EPIC recruits largely under private law contracts, which facilitates the arrival of an interim manager to run a department or a sales centre. An EPA makes more use of the statute, but can also rely on contract workers for temporary needs.

Annual Report on the State of the Public Service confirms this underlying trend. At the end of 2023, contract workers represented 23% of public servants, or 1.358 million people, up 4.9% year-on-year. The increase is particularly marked in the local civil service, at +6.2%.

In concrete terms, there is no text prohibiting a public institution from entrusting the temporary management of a division to an external manager. The question is therefore not whether this is allowed, but to find the right profile, at the right time, for the right duration. This is precisely the role of a Interim management firm : securing this choice and the process that surrounds it.

Managing a division while waiting for recruitment: situations that justify intervention

In practice, three situations occur most often in public establishments.

• An unanticipated departure (resignation, mobility, retirement) leaves a management position vacant for several months.
• A prolonged absence of the incumbent (illness, elective mandate, secondment) requires immediate managerial continuity.
• A commercial activity or an order intake slows down, without the team in place having the time or hindsight to turn it around.

The average vacancy period for a position in the civil service is between 4 and 8 months. Competitions can take from 6 to 18 months, depending on the This cause-and-solution analysis. During this time, an entire pole can be left without a pilot.

This is exactly the role of an interim general management : to take back control of day-to-day decisions, reassure the teams and prepare for the handover with the future incumbent. The interim manager is not there to last. He is there to hold the helm.

The non-profit sector, which includes public bodies, now accounts for nearly 9% of interim management assignments in France. Their average duration is 6.85 months, according to the France Transition barometer for the first half of 2025. The movement is therefore already underway, even if it remains a minority.

Case study: managerial continuity and commercial revival in testing and certification

A public institution of reference in testing, inspections and certifications was confronted with this type of situation. Its division manager, in charge of two departments and nearly forty employees, suddenly found himself unavailable for an indefinite period.

The organisation has called on an interim manager to carry out a dual mandate. Firstly, to guarantee the managerial continuity of the division: to maintain the operational course, to supervise the teams, to secure day-to-day decisions. Secondly, to revive the order intake of an activity whose commercial rhythm had run out of steam.

This type of mission illustrates the reality of the testing, inspection and certification market. This sector shows solid structural growth, with +8.8% in 2024 after +6.6% in 2023, according to This sector study. In a buoyant market, a local commercial slowdown is almost never inevitable. It is often a problem of organization or management, which can be solved with the right method.

The interim manager has carried out two projects in parallel: stabilizing the division’s management and restoring commercial discipline, without ever interrupting production. This double hat, operational and commercial, is common on this type of mandate, as confirmed by a Interim sales manager accustomed to these contexts of revival.

WAYDEN, a partner for public institutions in transition

Let’s be clear: a mission in a public institution requires a different method from that of an SME. The decision-making circuits are longer, the governance issues more sensitive, and the manager has to deal with specific budgetary and administrative rules.

This is why the choice of the right profile is as important as the speed of deployment. WAYDEN is a Parisian firm, located at 66 avenue des Champs-Élysées. It relies on a pool of 8,000 qualified managers and presents candidates within 48 to 72 hours. Deployment is possible in less than a week. The profiles mobilized generally have 15 to 25 years of experience, an asset in the face of the complexity of a public institution.

Each mission, among the more than 100 conducted each year by the firm, is followed by an associate director from start to finish. For a public institution, this proximity changes everything: it guarantees a stable point of contact, capable of adjusting the mandate if the context changes.

FAQ

Can a public institution call on interim management to run a division while waiting for recruitment?

Yes. There is no text prohibiting an EPIC, an EPA or any other public body from temporarily entrusting the management of a division to an external manager. It is even a practice that is developing, encouraged by the law on the transformation of the civil service.

Which public institutions use interim management?

EPICs operating in commercial activities (testing, certification, transport, development) use them most easily, because they already operate under private law contracts. EPAs can also mobilise contract workers for specific temporary needs.

How long does an interim management assignment in the public sector last?

The duration depends on the mandate. It is generally based on the time needed for the permanent recruitment or return of the incumbent, often between a few months and a year.

How can an interim manager revitalize the turnover of a testing and certification activity?

By quickly diagnosing the causes of the commercial slowdown, by remobilizing the teams and by re-establishing regular management of new orders. All this without waiting for the appointment of a permanent director.

 

Sources

• Interministerial Delegation for Senior State Management (DIESE), “Observatory of Senior Executives”, 2025: share of contract workers among senior State executives (7%).
• Acteurs Publics, “Six years after the law opening up the State’s management jobs to contract workers, a mixed evolution”, published on 5 December 2025: assessment of the opening of management positions to contract workers.
• Ministry of Transformation and the Civil Service, “Annual report on the state of the civil service, 2025 edition”, 2025: share and evolution of contract workers in the civil service (23%, +4.9%).
• Jobpublic, “Vacant position in the civil service: definition, causes and solutions”, published on 23 March 2026: average vacancy period (4 to 8 months) and competition deadlines (6 to 18 months), FNCDG data.
• Made in FR, “The Tests, Inspections and Certifications (TIC) market in France”, updated on 8 June 2025: growth of the ICT market (+8.8% in 2024).
• France Transition, “Interim Management Barometer, H1 2025”, published on 10 September 2025: sector turnover (€168.8 million) and share of the non-profit sector in assignments (9%).