Management · Holland code ECS

Chief Executives

Determine and formulate policies and provide overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations within guidelines set up by a board of directors or similar governing body. Plan, direct, or coordinate operational activities at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate executives and staff managers.

Also called: CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), President, Chief Diversity Officer (CDO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Executive Director.

O*NET 11-1011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $213,990; Middle half earn $129,540 to $356,200. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 46% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Direct or coordinate an organization's financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Confer with board members, organization officials, or staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems.
Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding or implementation of programs.
Direct, plan, or implement policies, objectives, or activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, or to increase productivity.
Prepare or present reports concerning activities, expenses, budgets, government statutes or rulings, or other items affecting businesses or program services.
Implement corrective action plans to solve organizational or departmental problems.
Analyze operations to evaluate performance of a company or its staff in meeting objectives or to determine areas of potential cost reduction, program improvement, or policy change.
Direct or coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking4.4 / 5
Speaking4.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Writing4.1 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Administration and Management4.8 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources4.5 / 5
English Language4.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.4 / 5
Economics and Accounting4.0 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic4
Investigative34
Artistic19
Social42
Enterprising99
Conventional66

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

mayor · DE Bürgermeister/Bürgermeisterin · FR maire/mairesse
secretary of state · DE Staatssekretär/Staatssekretärin · FR secrétaire d'État
public administration manager · DE Leiter im öffentlichen Dienst/Leiterin im öffentlichen Dienst · FR administrateur de la fonction publique/administratrice de la fonction publique
secretary general · DE Generalsekretär/Generalsekretärin · FR secrétaire général/secrétaire générale
branch manager · DE Niederlassungsleiter/Niederlassungsleiterin · FR directeur régional/directrice régionale
chief executive officer · DE Geschäftsführer/Geschäftsführerin · FR directeur général/directrice générale

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Elected officers and representatives (1112)12,400 employed
Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c. (2439)104,500 employed
Chief executives and senior officials (1111)208,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “管理的職業従事者”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥551,300; Middle half earn ¥446,900 to ¥687,300 a month.
Workers in the category: 1,758,300; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.33. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-1011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test