Chief executive jobs include positions in the private, public or nonprofit sectors. Specifically, an individual may be a chief executive in charge of a private company, such as a bank or an insurance company; a public institution, such as a school or a government agency; or a not-for-profit organization, such as a charity foundation or community based organization. A chief executive job description will vary according to the industry and specific job type, and some may even feature different job titles, such as president, superintendent or governor.
A chief executive officer (CEO) may be hired and appointed to a particular job or may be voted into her or his position by a group of constituents. Entrepreneurs who begin their own business or nonprofit organization may also assign themselves as chief executives. In whatever type of job a CEO performs and no matter how she or he arrives in that position, the primary responsibility of a chief executive officer is to assure that all of the goals of the organization she or he is charged to manage are met through the use of carefully planned strategies, the effective management of other key executives and staff members, and strong leadership overall.
Chief executive jobs also include those that are directly responsible for a company’s technological advancement. While this is a fairly modern chief executive officer job description, chief information officers are responsible for all of the technological functions of a particular organization. Such includes the hiring, training and management of key information technology staff persons, as well as the selection of technological tools and equipment necessary to maintain the company’s competitiveness in the technological marketplace.
Top executives working in the public sector are often granted access to these positions by campaigning for their positions after which they are elected for the job by public citizens or other constituents with the right to vote within the group. Some of these types of chief executive jobs include school superintendents, city mayors, governors and other democratically elected government leaders. Competition and accountability for all chief executive positions are quite high, and CEOs working in the public sector are frequently replaced when performance expectations are not met.
Chief executive jobs are frequently referred to by other titles such as executive director, chief information officer, chief financial officer, chief administrator or administrative director. The official title may vary according to the industry, as well as the specific organization a CEO works for. In all cases, however, these jobs require strong leadership abilities, visionary skills, powerful decision-making abilities, strong communication skills and a keen sense of knowledge in managing all major and minor details of an organization.