How do you decide when to use ‘head of’ titles?

For many a growing company, it can be a tempting shortcut. You’re not sure you want to call this person a director. Or you’re unsure if the role should actually be a VP. (But you don’t want to build out that leadership layer yet). So we use ‘head of’ as a placeholder.

There’s a little bit of nuance when it comes to internal versus external, which I’ll get to later. Backing out, the primary thing is making sure there is clarity of expectations. And ‘Head of’ is an obstacle to that.

Why ‘head of’ titles happen

We’re often inclined to give ‘Head of’ titles when we:

• Want a stretch candidate, but we’re not quite ready to give them a leadership title (often VP, sometimes director).
• We know that we need someone to lead a function, but we’re not sure of the level (ie. Senior Manager, Director, VP).
• We want to keep space for ‘hiring above’ that person in the future.
• We aren’t sure whether they should or shouldn’t be part of the leadership team.

The eventual realities and conflicts

The impacts of a ‘head of’ title aren’t always immediately felt. Though when it comes time for performance reviews, calibrations, hiring decisions, etc., that’s where it manifests.

Companies are reticent to hire someone with a “VP of X,” title, only for the company to ‘outgrow’ that person, necessitating a seasoned and stage-aligned leader at that level. It entails either demoting the current “VP”, moving them out, or giving them a narrower leadership title.

In the long run, it also creates issues for:

• What is the actual span of control this person has to work with? (In terms of hiring and building a team, budget, etc).
• Is there alignment between the expectations of their own contributions and that of the business?
• What leveling criteria does this person’s ‘head of’ title align to (ie. is it a Director, a L5 IC, a Senior Manager, etc.)
• Is that leveling consistent where ‘Head of’ is used in other parts of the organization? (Ie. is your “Head of Marketing” at the same level as your “Head of People”)?

When to actually use it

The narrow band of where ‘Head of’ applies is typically for ‘one of a kind’ roles that are in a highly-specialized function.

I apply four key criteria for ‘head of’ in order to consider using it: