"Ad interim" shows up often enough in searches for temporary sales leadership that it's worth explaining plainly: it means exactly the same thing as "interim," just phrased differently, and the phrasing itself tells you something about where the term is being used.
Where the phrase comes from
Ad interim is Latin for "in the meantime." It has long been used in diplomatic and governmental language, a "chargé d'affaires ad interim" is a diplomat temporarily running an embassy, and from there it carried into European and international corporate usage more broadly than it did in the US, where "interim" alone is more common without the Latin prefix.
Is there a functional difference from "interim"
No. An "ad interim sales director" and an "interim sales director" describe the same arrangement, someone stepping into sales leadership on a temporary, usually fixed-term basis to cover a gap or run a specific transition, until a permanent solution is in place. The choice of phrase mostly reflects regional or organisational language conventions rather than any real difference in scope or seniority.
Why the terminology is still worth knowing
If your organisation, or the market you're hiring in, uses "ad interim" as the standard phrase, using it consistently in a job posting or brief makes it easier for the right candidates to find you, and signals familiarity with international corporate norms. We see this fairly often working across the GCC, where a large proportion of senior hires have backgrounds in European or multinational firms where this phrasing is standard.
What actually matters, regardless of phrasing
Whichever term is used, the same practical questions apply, and we go through them in more detail in our full breakdown of interim, fractional and full-time sales leadership: what specific gap is being covered, what the exit plan looks like, and who is accountable for the number while the arrangement runs. The label on the engagement matters far less than having clear answers to those three things before it starts.