NextChapter

Job families with the fewest people-management roles

Administration has the lowest share: 2% of its professional openings are manager, director or executive roles, against 31% across all job families.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

Key facts

  • #1 Administration, Job family: 2%
  • #2 Engineering, Job family: 14%
  • #3 Research, Job family: 17%
  • 21 job families ranked across all job families
  • Data as of November 2026

For comparison: 31% across all job families.

  1. 1Administration Job family2%
  2. 2Engineering Job family14%
  3. 3Research Job family17%
  4. 4Sales Job family22%
  5. 5Data & Analytics Job family23%
  6. 6Programs Job family23%
  7. 7Security Job family26%
  8. 8Design Job family28%
  9. 9Human Resources Job family31%
  10. 10Legal Job family31%

What stands out

  • The top ten is tightly packed: Administration leads on 2%, and #10 Legal is at 31%.
  • Research reaches #3 on a sample of 4,429 all openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • Engineering is the largest market in the top ten, with 83,261 all openings behind its figure.
  • Job families with fewer than 1,000 all openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

Not everyone wants to manage people. Where few openings are management roles, most of the work and the career ladder stay on the individual-contributor side.

How to use it

If you want to grow without managing people, look at the families and industries with the lowest management share, and ask employers about a senior individual-contributor track.

The top 25

  1. 1

    Administration Job family

    2%

    Management openings
    123
    All openings
    5,193
    Median posted pay
    $85k

    Based on 5,193 openings.

    Administration jobs and employers

  2. 2

    Engineering Job family

    14%

    Management openings
    11,541
    All openings
    83,261
    Median posted pay
    $168k

    Based on 83,261 openings.

    Engineering jobs and employers

  3. 3

    Research Job family

    17%

    Management openings
    746
    All openings
    4,429
    Median posted pay
    $140k

    Based on 4,429 openings.

    Research jobs and employers

  4. 4

    Sales Job family

    22%

    Management openings
    8,893
    All openings
    40,038
    Median posted pay
    $130k

    Based on 40,038 openings.

    Sales jobs and employers

  5. 5

    Data & Analytics Job family

    23%

    Management openings
    4,649
    All openings
    20,392
    Median posted pay
    $185k

    Based on 20,392 openings.

    Data & Analytics jobs and employers

  6. 6

    Programs Job family

    23%

    Management openings
    1,441
    All openings
    6,133
    Median posted pay
    $130k

    Based on 6,133 openings.

    Programs jobs and employers

  7. 7

    Security Job family

    26%

    Management openings
    1,598
    All openings
    6,112
    Median posted pay
    $184k

    Based on 6,112 openings.

    Security jobs and employers

  8. 8

    Design Job family

    28%

    Management openings
    1,501
    All openings
    5,286
    Median posted pay
    $172k

    Based on 5,286 openings.

    Design jobs and employers

  9. 9

    Human Resources Job family

    31%

    Management openings
    4,192
    All openings
    13,689
    Median posted pay
    $125k

    Based on 13,689 openings.

    Human Resources jobs and employers

  10. 10

    Legal Job family

    31%

    Management openings
    3,758
    All openings
    11,949
    Median posted pay
    $143k

    Based on 11,949 openings.

    Legal jobs and employers

  11. 11

    Customer Success Job family

    34%

    Management openings
    1,335
    All openings
    3,912
    Median posted pay
    $123k

    Based on 3,912 openings.

    Customer Success jobs and employers

  12. 12

    Product Job family

    35%

    Management openings
    2,417
    All openings
    6,999
    Median posted pay
    $200k

    Based on 6,999 openings.

    Product jobs and employers

  13. 13

    Marketing Job family

    42%

    Management openings
    5,566
    All openings
    13,384
    Median posted pay
    $154k

    Based on 13,384 openings.

    Marketing jobs and employers

  14. 14

    Finance Job family

    43%

    Management openings
    13,378
    All openings
    31,304
    Median posted pay
    $125k

    Based on 31,304 openings.

    Finance jobs and employers

  15. 15

    Investment Job family

    46%

    Management openings
    1,980
    All openings
    4,323
    Median posted pay
    $155k

    Based on 4,323 openings.

    Investment jobs and employers

  16. 16

    Operations Job family

    53%

    Management openings
    23,256
    All openings
    43,925
    Median posted pay
    $130k

    Based on 43,925 openings.

    Operations jobs and employers

  17. 17

    Strategy Job family

    62%

    Management openings
    1,940
    All openings
    3,121
    Median posted pay
    $175k

    Based on 3,121 openings.

    Strategy jobs and employers

  18. 18

    Clinical Job family

    74%

    Management openings
    7,013
    All openings
    9,461
    Median posted pay
    $157k

    Based on 9,461 openings.

    Clinical jobs and employers

  19. 19

    Academic Job family

    76%

    Management openings
    1,007
    All openings
    1,327
    Median posted pay
    $120k

    Based on 1,327 openings.

    Academic jobs and employers

  20. 20

    Fundraising & development Job family

    77%

    Management openings
    1,231
    All openings
    1,594
    Median posted pay
    $120k

    Based on 1,594 openings.

    Fundraising & development jobs and employers

  21. 21

    Executive Leadership Job family

    98%

    Management openings
    2,045
    All openings
    2,080
    Median posted pay
    $165k

    Based on 2,080 openings.

    Executive Leadership jobs and employers

Full ranking

All 21 job families that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankJob familyScoreSample
1Administration Job family2%5,193
2Engineering Job family14%83,261
3Research Job family17%4,429
4Sales Job family22%40,038
5Data & Analytics Job family23%20,392
6Programs Job family23%6,133
7Security Job family26%6,112
8Design Job family28%5,286
9Human Resources Job family31%13,689
10Legal Job family31%11,949
11Customer Success Job family34%3,912
12Product Job family35%6,999
13Marketing Job family42%13,384
14Finance Job family43%31,304
15Investment Job family46%4,323
16Operations Job family53%43,925
17Strategy Job family62%3,121
18Clinical Job family74%9,461
19Academic Job family76%1,327
20Fundraising & development Job family77%1,594
21Executive Leadership Job family98%2,080

How this ranking works

A job family's score is the share of its open professional roles at manager level or above (manager, senior manager, director, vice president, head-of or C-suite), read from the full posting text.

The job family is the one assigned from the posting title and text. Only job families with at least 1,000 all openings are ranked, and only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.

Sample bar: job families with fewer than 1,000 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which job family ranks first: job families with the fewest people-management roles?
Administration has the lowest share: 2% of its professional openings are manager, director or executive roles, against 31% across all job families.
How many job families are ranked?
21 job families have at least 1,000 all openings, so the list has 21 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A job family's score is the share of its open professional roles at manager level or above (manager, senior manager, director, vice president, head-of or C-suite), read from the full posting text. The job family is the one assigned from the posting title and text. Only job families with at least 1,000 all openings are ranked, and only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Job families with the fewest people-management roles,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/functions-with-the-fewest-people-management-roles

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/functions-with-the-fewest-people-management-roles">Job families with the fewest people-management roles (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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