The same title means five different things. We sort it out.
A “Director” at a nonprofit runs the entire organization. A “VP” at a bulge-bracket bank just finished analyst training. Executive titles are wildly inconsistent — that inconsistency kills search. We fix it with a three-layer classification engine trained on how each industry actually works.
Five tiers.
Ranked by authority.
Organizational authority, scope of responsibility, and decision-making power — mapped onto a five-step ladder.
C-Suite & Presidents
The top of the house. These roles report to the board, own enterprise-wide strategy, and carry ultimate accountability for outcomes.
Vice Presidents & Heads
Senior leaders running major functions or business units. They typically own significant P&L, manage large teams, and report to the C-suite.
Senior Directors
The bridge between Director and VP. Senior Directors usually manage multiple teams or a large department and are on the path to VP-level responsibility.
Directors
Functional leaders with meaningful scope. Directors typically own a department, a product line, or a regional operation. They manage managers and drive execution within their domain.
Founders
Builders. Any role where the person founded or co-founded the organization, regardless of their operating title. A "Founder & CEO" is classified as Founder because that context matters for matching and opportunity fit.
The title is a clue.
Industry is the context.
Eight industry rulesets reclassify titles that don’t mean what they look like. Below: every title that triggers a non-default mapping.
Banking & Financial Services
Title inflation is the norm. A "Vice President" at JPMorgan is typically 3–5 years into their career — it's an analyst-track promotion, not a senior leadership role.
Private Equity & Venture Capital
PE and VC firms have their own hierarchy. A "VP" is a junior deal team member. A "Director" actually outranks a VP. Partners run the firm.
Consulting & Professional Services
At firms like McKinsey, Deloitte, or Accenture, "Partner" and "Managing Director" represent the pinnacle — equity-holding, client-relationship-owning leaders.
Nonprofits & Foundations
An "Executive Director" at a nonprofit is the CEO. They run the organization, manage the budget, report to the board, and set strategy.
Higher Education
Deans run major academic units with substantial budgets. Department Chairs lead individual departments.
Government
Government titles often understate scope. A "Director" at a federal agency might oversee thousands of employees and billions in budget.
Real Estate & Family Offices
"Principal" in these contexts typically means owner or controlling partner — not an individual contributor.
Industrial, Manufacturing & Energy
General Managers run plants, divisions, or business units with full P&L responsibility.
Three layers.
In order.
Every role is scored through the same pipeline — title lookup, industry override, then secondary signals for the hard cases.
Title Analysis
Map the job title against a comprehensive title-to-tier lookup. A "Chief Financial Officer" is clearly CXO. A "Senior Director of Engineering" is clearly Senior Director. This handles the straightforward cases in microseconds.
Industry Override
If the job has industry context, apply industry-specific rules. This is where a "VP" at Goldman Sachs gets correctly reclassified while a "VP" at a SaaS company stays at the VP tier. The override rules are based on deep research into each industry's title conventions.
Secondary Signals
For ambiguous cases, examine additional signals from the job posting — compensation, reporting structure, P&L ownership, team size — to resolve the final tier. See the four signals below.
When the title won’t tell.
The posting does.
Four additional signals pulled directly from the job description — each weighted and combined with title + industry to resolve the tier.
Compensation
Base salary above $225K or total comp above $300K suggests executive scope.
Reporting structure
Reports to CEO, President, or the Board is a strong executive signal.
P&L responsibility
Ownership of revenue or budget targets indicates executive authority.
Team size
Managing 50+ people or multiple departments suggests senior leadership.
Every call comes with a confidence score.
Edge cases get expert attention rather than silent miscategorization. Those reviews feed back into the rulebook — the system gets sharper over time, not staler.
VP means VP. Every time.
Search for VP-level roles and get real VP-level roles — whether they’re titled “Vice President,” “Head of,” or “Managing Director” depending on the industry.
Postings reach the right candidates.
Your “Director” role at a federal agency is equivalent to a VP elsewhere, and we match accordingly. Better classification means better candidates — faster.
Every role classified.
Every classification scored.
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