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I know that many of you, title is not a big deal but any input is appreciated.

If you had followed my previous post about my COO leaving, they are now doing a reorganization of the company. The new COO doesn’t know much of IT so he’s not wanted to dive into it and since the company is growing drastically, it is about time to reorg and an opportunity to give myself the right title. Not only it is JUST a title, but it’ll also affect my salary.

I’ve been tasked to give myself the correct title. We are a medium-size company and we are growing. Currently there are two IT people including me in which I proposed but since we’re growing, it’s more likely we’ll hire another IT person. Currently, since there are only two of us, I hold more responsibility but having an IT Manager title is kind of silly when I’m only managing one person but my COO knows that I do more than IT.

I pretty deal with ALL aspects of IT, now I’ll be managing the budget for IT, telecommunications, etc. I’m currently the project manager for the ERP implementation. I deal with the company’s infrastructure and any type of technology. I do reports for financial management in some sense and also training. I have also been tasked to understand all other departments and their processes and understanding purchasing/inventory. So a lot on my shoulder but primarily just in IT and its workflow.

My question is, what do others out there have for their title? Any suggestions would help.

I ALMOST, literally, ask to be IT THOR because I have the hammer to build the company’s infrastructure or the hammer to destroy. =)

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If the new COO is looking at you as the department head, then by all means ask for the IT Manager title. I have seen managers that have had no direct-reports. It’s more of an indication of how high you are on the food chain, not how many people report to you. I have a Director title with only 3 direct-reports right now, if that is any indication.

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I’m glad it got moved because it didn’t give me a choice to move it to IT/Careers forum. =)

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That was my first choice. But I figured I would ask others out there to see what their titles are and their direct reports and a glance of their responsibilities.

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One more thing - Once you have a manager title, things will change with your coworker. You will officially become his/her boss, and eventually the boss of the new hire, and will be expected to do “boss” things (hiring, firing, etc.). Depending on the other person’s attitude, there may be some pushback or resentment from them, so just be prepared. Worst case, your current coworker may decide to move on and you would be in a position to hire a replacement.

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Dave Boring wrote:

One more thing - Once you have a manager title, things will change with your coworker. You will officially become his/her boss, and eventually the boss of the new hire, and will be expected to do “boss” things (hiring, firing, etc.). Depending on the other person’s attitude, there may be some pushback or resentment from them, so just be prepared. Worst case, your current coworker may decide to move on and you would be in a position to hire a replacement.

Good point. Fortunately I hired the other IT person so he already looks at me as his boss. One crazy thing is that we used to work together from the previous company and he was my senior. =)

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go with CIO - Chief Information Officer

or IT Director

the IT Manager sounds more like you just manage the staff, the IT Director holds more weight to it and not just ‘manage’ things.

CIO is more of an executive position.

just my 2 cents…

Here’s a link to some IT titles

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I would go with IT Director or IT Manager. An alternative might be something with “Lead” in the title, like Lead Systems Administrator, although that title doesn’t imply all of the other things that you do like project and budget management, but it does imply that you’re the top IT admin.

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Another vote for IT Manager. I have had that title for a while now at different organizations. This is the first where I had a guy reporting to me. Every other time, it was just me. I pretty much do what you described…budgeting, tech work, projects, etc.

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I am a one man IT department (I have an assistant but she splits her time) Our owners have me listed as IT Manager but I normally list it as Systems Admin.

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My title is “Systems Support Manager”. I run the help desk (and manage 1 employee) and do all other system + net admin roles. We also have an “IT Director” in our dept (no employees) who is a programmer. It all goes with what you personally are comfortable with as ultimately you’re the one who has to live with the title.

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Business IM or Systems Support Manager one of both cover all those tasks,

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Justin wrote:

I would go with IT Director or IT Manager. An alternative might be something with “Lead” in the title, like Lead Systems Administrator, although that title doesn’t imply all of the other things that you do like project and budget management, but it does imply that you’re the top IT admin.

I would love to be IT Director but my COO believes that the company isn’t there yet but eventually will. So it’s something that I’ll get moved into down the road.

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I would go with I.T. Manager, I’m currently a 1 man I.T. department but we’re looking to hire in the near future.

I also do everything to do with I.T. and some things to do with business management & operations … anywhere where they need problem solving basically.

(I report directly to the CEO)

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SubyFly wrote:

Good point. Fortunately I hired the other IT person so he already looks at me as his boss. One crazy thing is that we used to work together from the previous company and he was my senior. =)

Then you are already the IT Manager.

Take a look at the titles held by the managers of other departments, craft one that’s in the same theme, and accept your promotion with a smile. Congrats on your new overlordship!

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For 5 years I was an IT Manager of a company of up to eighty employees. I had no direct reports. But I “managed” everything IT and technology. The title acknowledged that I had a higher level of responsibility to the company.

The Office Manager also didn’t have any direct reports, but she sure enjoyed “managing” all of us with admin responsibilities. :slight_smile:

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Choose either IS or IT Manager - both reflect duties that cover not only the personnel side but also anything that plugs in.

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I would agree with IT Manager, Because you are not only managing that 1 person you are also managing the Infrastructure.

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SubyFly wrote:

Good point. Fortunately I hired the other IT person so he already looks at me as his boss. One crazy thing is that we used to work together from the previous company and he was my senior. =)

What a weird twist of fate! Is that uncomfortable at all?

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IT Manager is the best choice right now. I see Director as more of a position over managers… and you’re giving direction, but have zero hands-on. In this case, you’re definitely hands-on, and you’ve already got a report that you are managing.

Of course there are other titles that you could go with, but try not to let it go too far. “Supreme High Chancellor Lord SubyFly” is probably going to be too much. If you’re daring, you could try, and then pass it off as a joke if the boss doesn’t agree to it.

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