Job families whose postings stress emotional intelligence most

Key facts
- #1 Fundraising & development, Job family: 3.2%
- #2 Executive Leadership, Job family: 2.7%
- #3 Customer Success, Job family: 2.4%
- 21 job families ranked across all job families
- Data as of November 2026
For comparison: 0.8% across all job families.
- 1Fundraising & development Job family3.2%
- 2Executive Leadership Job family2.7%
- 3Customer Success Job family2.4%
- 4Academic Job family2.3%
- 5Strategy Job family2.0%
- 6Human Resources Job family1.7%
- 7Sales Job family1.2%
- 8Programs Job family1.2%
- 9Administration Job family1.2%
- 10Investment Job family1.1%
What stands out
- The lead is wide: Fundraising & development (3.2%) is well clear of Investment at #10 (1.1%).
- Academic reaches #4 on a sample of 1,327 all openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
- Sales is the largest market in the top ten, with 40,038 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
Some roles lean on emotional intelligence: reading people, listening and working through conflict. The share of postings that stress it shows where those skills are called out most.
How to use it
If these skills are your strength, the top of the list is where to look. Put concrete examples of them in your résumé and interviews.
The top 25
- 1
Fundraising & development Job family
3.2%
- Openings stressing it
- 51
- All openings
- 1,594
- Median posted pay
- $120k
Based on 1,594 openings.
- 2
Executive Leadership Job family
2.7%
- Openings stressing it
- 57
- All openings
- 2,080
- Median posted pay
- $165k
Based on 2,080 openings.
- 3
Customer Success Job family
2.4%
- Openings stressing it
- 95
- All openings
- 3,912
- Median posted pay
- $123k
Based on 3,912 openings.
- 4
Academic Job family
2.3%
- Openings stressing it
- 30
- All openings
- 1,327
- Median posted pay
- $120k
Based on 1,327 openings.
- 5
Strategy Job family
2.0%
- Openings stressing it
- 62
- All openings
- 3,121
- Median posted pay
- $175k
Based on 3,121 openings.
- 6
Human Resources Job family
1.7%
- Openings stressing it
- 226
- All openings
- 13,689
- Median posted pay
- $125k
Based on 13,689 openings.
- 7
Sales Job family
1.2%
- Openings stressing it
- 497
- All openings
- 40,038
- Median posted pay
- $130k
Based on 40,038 openings.
- 8
Programs Job family
1.2%
- Openings stressing it
- 76
- All openings
- 6,133
- Median posted pay
- $130k
Based on 6,133 openings.
- 9
Administration Job family
1.2%
- Openings stressing it
- 63
- All openings
- 5,193
- Median posted pay
- $85k
Based on 5,193 openings.
- 10
Investment Job family
1.1%
- Openings stressing it
- 49
- All openings
- 4,323
- Median posted pay
- $155k
Based on 4,323 openings.
- 11
Marketing Job family
1.1%
- Openings stressing it
- 151
- All openings
- 13,384
- Median posted pay
- $154k
Based on 13,384 openings.
- 12
Clinical Job family
1.0%
- Openings stressing it
- 97
- All openings
- 9,461
- Median posted pay
- $157k
Based on 9,461 openings.
- 13
Operations Job family
0.8%
- Openings stressing it
- 367
- All openings
- 43,925
- Median posted pay
- $130k
Based on 43,925 openings.
- 14
Product Job family
0.8%
- Openings stressing it
- 58
- All openings
- 6,999
- Median posted pay
- $200k
Based on 6,999 openings.
- 15
Legal Job family
0.8%
- Openings stressing it
- 96
- All openings
- 11,949
- Median posted pay
- $143k
Based on 11,949 openings.
- 16
Security Job family
0.7%
- Openings stressing it
- 42
- All openings
- 6,112
- Median posted pay
- $184k
Based on 6,112 openings.
- 17
Finance Job family
0.5%
- Openings stressing it
- 151
- All openings
- 31,304
- Median posted pay
- $125k
Based on 31,304 openings.
- 18
Design Job family
0.5%
- Openings stressing it
- 25
- All openings
- 5,286
- Median posted pay
- $172k
Based on 5,286 openings.
- 19
Data & Analytics Job family
0.5%
- Openings stressing it
- 96
- All openings
- 20,392
- Median posted pay
- $185k
Based on 20,392 openings.
- 20
Engineering Job family
0.4%
- Openings stressing it
- 355
- All openings
- 83,261
- Median posted pay
- $168k
Based on 83,261 openings.
- 21
Research Job family
0.3%
- Openings stressing it
- 14
- All openings
- 4,429
- Median posted pay
- $140k
Based on 4,429 openings.
Full ranking
All 21 job families that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.
| Rank | Job family | Score | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fundraising & development Job family | 3.2% | 1,594 |
| 2 | Executive Leadership Job family | 2.7% | 2,080 |
| 3 | Customer Success Job family | 2.4% | 3,912 |
| 4 | Academic Job family | 2.3% | 1,327 |
| 5 | Strategy Job family | 2.0% | 3,121 |
| 6 | Human Resources Job family | 1.7% | 13,689 |
| 7 | Sales Job family | 1.2% | 40,038 |
| 8 | Programs Job family | 1.2% | 6,133 |
| 9 | Administration Job family | 1.2% | 5,193 |
| 10 | Investment Job family | 1.1% | 4,323 |
| 11 | Marketing Job family | 1.1% | 13,384 |
| 12 | Clinical Job family | 1.0% | 9,461 |
| 13 | Operations Job family | 0.8% | 43,925 |
| 14 | Product Job family | 0.8% | 6,999 |
| 15 | Legal Job family | 0.8% | 11,949 |
| 16 | Security Job family | 0.7% | 6,112 |
| 17 | Finance Job family | 0.5% | 31,304 |
| 18 | Design Job family | 0.5% | 5,286 |
| 19 | Data & Analytics Job family | 0.5% | 20,392 |
| 20 | Engineering Job family | 0.4% | 83,261 |
| 21 | Research Job family | 0.3% | 4,429 |
How this ranking works
A job family's score is the share of its open professional roles whose posting stresses emotional intelligence, empathy, listening or working with people, a signal read from the 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 whose postings stress emotional intelligence most?
- Fundraising & development leads: 3.2% of its professional openings stress emotional intelligence, against 0.8% 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 whose posting stresses emotional intelligence, empathy, listening or working with people, a signal read from the 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 whose postings stress emotional intelligence most,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/functions-with-the-most-emotional-intelligence-roles
Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/functions-with-the-most-emotional-intelligence-roles">Job families whose postings stress emotional intelligence most (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>
Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.
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