NextChapter

Job families with the most people-management roles

Executive Leadership leads: 98% 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 Executive Leadership, Job family: 98%
  • #2 Fundraising & development, Job family: 77%
  • #3 Academic, Job family: 76%
  • 21 job families ranked across all job families
  • Data as of November 2026

For comparison: 31% across all job families.

  1. 1Executive Leadership Job family98%
  2. 2Fundraising & development Job family77%
  3. 3Academic Job family76%
  4. 4Clinical Job family74%
  5. 5Strategy Job family62%
  6. 6Operations Job family53%
  7. 7Investment Job family46%
  8. 8Finance Job family43%
  9. 9Marketing Job family42%
  10. 10Product Job family35%

What stands out

  • The lead is wide: Executive Leadership (98%) is well clear of Product at #10 (35%).
  • Academic reaches #3 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.
  • Operations is the largest market in the top ten, with 43,925 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 kinds of work are mostly individual contributors and others are full of management roles. The share of manager-and-above openings shows where a move into management has the most openings.

How to use it

If you want to manage people, look at the top for the families and industries with the most management roles. Titles differ between employers, so read the posting for what the role manages.

The top 25

  1. 1

    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

  2. 2

    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

  3. 3

    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

  4. 4

    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

  5. 5

    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

  6. 6

    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

  7. 7

    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

  8. 8

    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

  9. 9

    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

  10. 10

    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

  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

    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

  13. 13

    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

  14. 14

    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

  15. 15

    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

  16. 16

    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

  17. 17

    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

  18. 18

    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

  19. 19

    Research Job family

    17%

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

    Based on 4,429 openings.

    Research jobs and employers

  20. 20

    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

  21. 21

    Administration Job family

    2%

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

    Based on 5,193 openings.

    Administration jobs and employers

Full ranking

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

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

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 most people-management roles?
Executive Leadership leads: 98% 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 most people-management roles,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/functions-with-the-most-people-management-roles

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

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

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