Meaning & use
executive director
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The top paid manager who runs the daily work of a company or organization, especially a nonprofit.
Grammar: Countable; use 'an' before a vowel sound: an executive director.
Patterns
- the executive director of something
- appoint someone (as) executive director
She was hired as executive director of the food bank last spring.
The executive director reports to the board of trustees each quarter.
Our executive director has worked in public health for twenty years.
nouncountableBritish
A member of a company's board who also holds a paid management job in that company.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural when talking about the board: executive directors.
Patterns
- be appointed executive director
- executive directors and non-executive directors
In the UK, the finance chief also serves as an executive director on the board.
The report recommended that executive directors should not chair the audit committee.
Executive directors voted in favor of the merger while independent members abstained.
Word forms
| plural | executive directors |
|---|
Common combinations
- appoint an executive director
- The charity appointed an executive director with a background in fundraising.
- serve as executive director
- He served as executive director for six years before retiring.
- executive director of a nonprofit
- She is the executive director of a nonprofit that helps homeless teenagers.
- board of executive directors
- The board of executive directors meets on the first Monday of every month.
- executive director position
- The executive director position requires strong budgeting skills.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chief executive
- Use for the single most senior manager of a company; executive director is more common in nonprofits and can also refer to a board member with a management role.
- managing director
- Common in British businesses for the person in charge of daily operations; executive director may be a board-level title rather than the top operational role.
- CEO
- The top decision-maker in a large company; an executive director may report to the CEO or be one of several senior leaders.
Word family
Commonly confused: executive director or non-executive director?
executive director vs non-executive director
A non-executive director sits on the board but does not manage the organization day to day; an executive director usually does both.
Practice
The charity's new ______ will oversee all daily programs and report to the board.
Choose one answer.
After the possessive 'charity's' we need the singular noun 'executive director' without an article. 'Executive directors' is plural and does not fit the singular verb 'will oversee'; 'an executive director' is wrong because 'the charity's' already determines the noun; the possessive form 'executive director's' would need a following noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “executive director”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.