Yet another JobTitleFilter question.

February 1, 2008 9:20 AM

It's time once again for "Name That Job!"

What would you call someone who will be fulfilling the following role(s) for a small company? Think Dunder Mifflin.

• Some assistance to the sales team, mostly administrative and managing leads, etc. No actual selling responsibility.
• Some assistance to the marketing team, mostly administrative but also some strategic and creative work.
• More specifics: the position would include supervising the outgoing company newsletter and probably also some web content... assisting at trade shows and exhibits... there would be some client interaction... there would be no direct reports.
• Hopefully, the right candidate would move quickly into a manager role that will be opening up in the fall. The company wants that to be an internal hire but there isn't really a candidate, so this is essentially "grooming / training" someone for that role.
• There isn't an "equivalent" position on our organizational chart; this is a whole new role and there aren't really counterparts in other departments either.

Because of the rapid advancement opportunity, the candidate needs to be degreed and have several years experience in the workforce. So, an "assistant" title wouldn't be appropriate, even though it seems most accurate to me. Someone else in our office said "[something] manager" but is that really accurate if the person wouldn't be supervising anyone? One of the HR people wants it to be "business analyst" but I think that's something different altogether.

In the Northeast, if it matters or helps. TIA.

posted by cockwaffle to Work & Money (21 answers total)

Response by poster: Um, also, sorry for the "excess" of "punctuation marks" which at this point are more like "air quotes" and might make you "wonder" if this isn't even a real "question."
posted by cockwaffle at 9:22 AM on February 1, 2008

I'm having trouble filling in the blanks, but __________ Coordinator, ____________ Specialist, or ____________ Associate are the types of titles given to people on the level you are talking about in my company.

We used to have people called ____________ Managers who didn't manage people, but that got confusing and they changed it to Specialist.
posted by tastybrains at 9:24 AM on February 1, 2008

marketing facilitator.

I just made that up.
posted by amtho at 9:29 AM on February 1, 2008

Business Coordinator sounds nice.
posted by milarepa at 9:29 AM on February 1, 2008

Product Manager?
posted by poppo at 9:29 AM on February 1, 2008

I like marketing facilitator.
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:35 AM on February 1, 2008

When I've had people in similar roles I've titled them "Marketing Coordinator."
posted by tundro at 9:35 AM on February 1, 2008

You could also play with this job title generator until you find something that sounds nice.
posted by tastybrains at 9:36 AM on February 1, 2008

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Coordinator for Sales, Marketing and Internal Communications
posted by dersins at 9:36 AM on February 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Assistance Manager? Actually, Marketing Coordinator sounds good to me too, as does the fairly opaque Business Coordinator.
posted by cairnish at 9:37 AM on February 1, 2008

Assistant to the Regional Manager.

No, kidding. I'm thinking something like Support Specialist. It seems like this person is somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades and does a lot within the realm of supporting your team members. If you want to sway from the "_________ Assistant" title, I think this is the best way.
posted by joshrholloway at 9:39 AM on February 1, 2008

nthing Marketing Coordinator. That was my title several years ago, and the job description is pretty similar.
posted by desjardins at 9:45 AM on February 1, 2008

Sounds like a Community Manager to me - it's a position that's getting pretty common in the video game industry but is definitely starting to spread. Here's a quick FAQ on community management - see if it fits what you had in mind.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:56 AM on February 1, 2008

(Sales and) Marketing Coordinator
(Sales and) Marketing Specialist

I did the stuff you're talking about under those titles, without the sales component.

If you want to tack on the sales part into the title you can. The position sounds more marketing than sales as you describe it.
posted by ml98tu at 10:19 AM on February 1, 2008

At my company, we have a small department of "Sales Liaisons."
posted by koeselitz at 10:24 AM on February 1, 2008

Marketing Coordinator or Communications Coordinator seems to sum up the role. Specialist implies some sort of specialization (fulfilling a specialized function in the realm of marketing or PR, etc.). "facilitator" makes no sense and sounds vaguely euphemistic for admin, like calling a housewife a domestic engineer.
posted by necessitas at 10:30 AM on February 1, 2008

I do similar work for a non-profit organization's major gift fundraising team.

Fundraising and sales = very similar administrative needs.

I have the title "Development Coordinator" and could easily see your title as "Sales/Marketing Coordinator" (and it would not like you are an admin assistant!)
posted by elkerette at 10:31 AM on February 1, 2008

Project Manager is an option.
posted by shaarog at 10:34 AM on February 1, 2008

You pretty much just described my job. You're not my boss, are you? :P

My title is Marketing Associate.
posted by saucy at 11:14 AM on February 1, 2008

At my last job another guy and I shared the responsibilities on your list. I was "Planning and Communications Coordinator" and he was "Marketing and Communications Coordinator."

Our direct supervisor was "Senior Manger, Planning and Communications," and the big boss was "Director, Communications."
posted by slenderloris at 11:20 AM on February 1, 2008

Hey, I had something very like that job 8 years ago! In my case, I was "Campaign Marketing Senior Assistant" -- I worked in the Campaign department of a United Way, thus the "Campaign." Marketing Associate or Coordinator sounds about right to me.
posted by epersonae at 5:53 PM on February 1, 2008