Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

This has been tough for me.

I work for a company approaching it's 25th anniversary who has established itself with an iron-clad reputation for providing the best products in it's industry. It's the type of family owned and operated company that acts like a corporate giant yet makes decisions without any red tape, and who really cares about the customers.

I have been with this company for 7 years. Started as a drafter (AutoCAD). I realized they were not advertising the company website (surely they had one right?). It was damaged, broken and incomplete. It had been for 4 years. It was a project that was started in '99 and was never finished. From '98 til about then, I had created and managed a website for a non-profit international organization so I had some basic web knowledge.

From the first day of hire, I was basically title less. I was to be an assistant drafter, but never signed my emails as such. I was just a worker bee. This progressed as I grew. Because of the lack of educated management, there were and mostly still are... no company policies. No rank structure and no standards. Chaos with a purpose. Very fast paced environment where everyone gets hired with 1 hat, and finds themselves wearing 10 soon after.

Cool with me! I managed between 100-150 people online as a high ranking officer of a non-profit. I recruited, screened, trained, weeded out chaff and potential management material, etc... I like being busy, taking on challenges, meeting deadlines. I am fiercely loyal to the boss and company. Honor-bound to deliver at the highest level of customer service and brand presentation. Kind of the fantasy stuff of movies and books but that's how I roll. Best show or no show.

Through the years I titled myself "Engineering / IT".
I know computers, I build them, troubleshoot and fix. I keep the servers running and built systems for cheap when they were needed. I manage the part numbering system solo, making sure new products series, models, numbers, etc... don't conflict with others now or in the future. I re-word both of my bosses letters when I can and write all of the other letterheads and correspondence myself. I have that skill for writing and speaking that take into account political correctness (that a word?) and company liabilities. I have reduced our liabilities outside the company to zero. I run the national training program. I do marketing, I run the website, I design and create all our literature, I do technical writing for our installation, operating manuals and guidebooks. Forklift certified, CNC lathe programmer for certain product lines. The list goes on. I dig in where I see a lack of policy or direction. I direct. I manage. I will do it myself if I have to but I would rather delegate to qualified or trained staff. I am flown here or there to do face-to-face trainings or product presentations. In the first few years, I was the guy sent out to do local warranty repair work on our products. I coordinate and setup tradeshows and booth design. I am the 3rd rung in the upper management crust. The CEO has retired to Chairman of the Board, naming the Vice President, President. The Senior Engineer becomes the Vice President. And I am the 3rd senior manager. No one else in the office is qualified enough OR wants to take a high-management seat. I do. I am there already.

So, I find it difficult to talk on serious levels to our vendors, customers and owners of multi-billion dollar companies with a generic title like "Engineering / IT".
It is meant to mean that I am merely in the Engineering and IT departments, but not an Engineer. I am more of the IT guy than an engineer but I provide valuable engineering insight and design on the drawing board and in concept phases.

That's not even all of it, but you get the gist of the major responsibilities.

Since the bosses got serious and bumped up their titles, I feel that I need to follow suit to close the gap, but also for reasons stated above. I need a title that matches my responsibilities so that I can be taken seriously. There is no pay raise in the balance here. Just the title. It needs an upgrade.

I settled on Chief of Operations. But we really don't have Chief titles here... so I thought Director of Operations would be better.

My bosses didn't like that as they said (without doing any homework on it) that 'Operations' means every department in the company, which is bull crap. I didn't argue the point and said that I would do some more research and figure something else out. I would really like to go back to that and explain that 'Operations' is open to interpretation and is really defined by the company. No titles are really standardized by the industry except President, General Manager, and a few others.

I really want to make sure that I get the word Director in there. Not just manager. I'm not mid or low level management.

Candidates?
Director of IT / ?? something else?
Director of Brand Development
Director of Brand Strategy
Director of Business Development

tough to put these together.

I hope I gave enough background.

Thank you all in advance!