Switching to an individual contributor role
Should I accept a Director job without direct reports? Managing a staff of 4 now. Offered base $225k No change in title Will it be more difficult to move back to managing direct reports?
Agree with the above, that’s really not a Director, it’s more Principal at best.
Indirect management typically (in charge of a process, product, feature or outcome) and you partner with other groups to achieve the goals
So, again, Principal.
Dir is a title given these days based upon seniority or experience vs have actual reports. Moving to IC can be lucrative if the variables that support your efforts work in your favor. Variables, by definition, change though so be forewarned. As for moving back, it depends on how you explain leaving and returning to management/leadership. The more time as an IC the harder it is to move back to leadership as people tend to typecast based on the title of the role you hold/your duties vs what you’ve done or can do.
I've gone from Director to Principal and back again. It wasn't voluntary and I was mad about it at the time. Now that I'm looking to move, having a couple years of recent IC experience has helped my most recent job search.
Sounds like they might want you to put together your own team? Sounds like it might be perfect since you have complete say in what your team is like.
If the comp is the same or better for a Director position that also manages people, I’d take it. You get paid Director salary without the added responsibility of managing people.
Directors without reports are susceptible to getting whacked when the winds of change shift.
Build a team faster than you can get fired.
Management and leadership are not the same. That should be obvious.
Don't do it. You will regret it. It also probably means you have a micromanager above you. EG: the malignant brain tumor of business. I was in a role like that. It took me 3 months to get fed up with that place. I was applying for new jobs 3 months in. The same company brought in a person to "direct" technology. He lasted ... 4 months till he got sick of it. I got out. He asked me to be a professional reference within a month of me leaving.
^^^^ @massmutual speaks the truth I did this and regretted it, was micromaged to all hell by a complete asshole CEO.
The real question is why do we have a director with no team.
Comp bucket