Name that job title!
January 4, 2018 11:30 AM Subscribe
I have a new coworker at my startup job that's wearing 3-4 hats, depending on how you slice it: primarily QA and customer support, with a hefty dose of liveops. This is a Lead/Director level role, he's responsible for planning & strategy for all of the above. He'll also be managing people in the future, just not right this second. We're having a tough time coming up with a job title for him. :( Help?
Operations Director?
posted by quacks like a duck at 11:47 AM on January 4, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by quacks like a duck at 11:47 AM on January 4, 2018 [5 favorites]
Sounds like he is the COO.
posted by COD at 11:54 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by COD at 11:54 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: (Replying to rhizome above) Some title combos we've come up with so far, not necessarily rejected:
Customer Support Engineering Manager
QACS (Quality Assurance Customer Support) Lead
Director of Technical Support
Lead Customer Success Engineer
Customer Support & Deployment Manager
posted by Snacks at 2:25 PM on January 4, 2018
Customer Support Engineering Manager
QACS (Quality Assurance Customer Support) Lead
Director of Technical Support
Lead Customer Success Engineer
Customer Support & Deployment Manager
posted by Snacks at 2:25 PM on January 4, 2018
It's a little of-the-now for me to feel great about it, but all of those together say to me "Director of Customer Experience," which would be in line with, though a step below, COO. Alternatively and more simply, Director of Support, Support Manager/Lead, or something like that. Thing about this is, QA is developer-oriented support and the liveops & CS is end-user oriented support. It's a little weird because CS and QA aren't usually under the same umbrella.
posted by rhizome at 2:51 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 2:51 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
"It's a little weird because CS and QA aren't usually under the same umbrella."
Yes, that is an unusual pairing.
Director of Quality & Support?
posted by bz at 3:20 PM on January 4, 2018
Yes, that is an unusual pairing.
Director of Quality & Support?
posted by bz at 3:20 PM on January 4, 2018
The word "deployment" in your examples leapt out to me. It sounds like this person is responsible for all aspects of the actual software, and it's relationship to its users, after the initial engineering and creation. So, identifying that cusp -- the point in time or maturity where this person's duties begin -- and what happens to the product after that point could be key to finding the right words or phrase.
I'm thinking of building the title around ideas like: maturation; deployment; second/late development; product adolescence; product use; product-world interaction; etc.
How about something like "Software maturity director" or "Testing and Deployment Manager"?
posted by amtho at 4:17 PM on January 4, 2018
I'm thinking of building the title around ideas like: maturation; deployment; second/late development; product adolescence; product use; product-world interaction; etc.
How about something like "Software maturity director" or "Testing and Deployment Manager"?
posted by amtho at 4:17 PM on January 4, 2018
Ops / QA and customer support are totally related, conceptually, at least -- the more reliable your service and better your testing / qualifications process, the fewer customer support cases you get.
I was leaning towards Operations Director or COO.
posted by batter_my_heart at 5:51 PM on January 4, 2018
I was leaning towards Operations Director or COO.
posted by batter_my_heart at 5:51 PM on January 4, 2018
I'd lean toward Director of Operations...
But also I'd think of what is the title and role they want when you hire the needed people. I imagine they'll wanting to be shedding responsibilities and envision themselves in a final role. COO also sounds like a good fit.
You're customers might appreciate that they are speaking with someone near the top of the company; their problems are super-important to you and you're on it.
I've been at companies that had a practice of letting employees choose their own weird quirky titles. Sometimes they had a serious title when they needed to pull that out (COO for example), but they also had a card that said something like "Chief Ninja" "The Sorcerers Apprentice", "Head Cat Wrangler" etc... Having two sets of business cards (and the serious title on the website) can be fun and empowering.
posted by el io at 10:43 AM on January 5, 2018
But also I'd think of what is the title and role they want when you hire the needed people. I imagine they'll wanting to be shedding responsibilities and envision themselves in a final role. COO also sounds like a good fit.
You're customers might appreciate that they are speaking with someone near the top of the company; their problems are super-important to you and you're on it.
I've been at companies that had a practice of letting employees choose their own weird quirky titles. Sometimes they had a serious title when they needed to pull that out (COO for example), but they also had a card that said something like "Chief Ninja" "The Sorcerers Apprentice", "Head Cat Wrangler" etc... Having two sets of business cards (and the serious title on the website) can be fun and empowering.
posted by el io at 10:43 AM on January 5, 2018
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posted by rhizome at 11:43 AM on January 4, 2018