What Is Senior management?

Senior Management

Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation. They hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by authority of the board of directors and/or the shareholders. There are most often higher levels of responsibility, such as a board of directors and those who own the company (shareholders), but they focus on managing the senior or executive management instead of the day-to-day activities of the business. The executive management typically consists of the heads of the firm's product and/or geographic units and of functional executives such as the chief financial officer, the chief operating officer, and the chief strategy officer.^[1] In Project Management, senior management is responsible for authorising the funding of projects.^[2]
They are sometimes referred to, within corporations, as executive management, top management, upper management, higher management, or simply seniors.

Positions

A management team is directly responsible for managing the day-to-day operations (and profitability) of a company. Positions that are commonly considered to be part of that team include the following:

Chief executive officer (CEO) 

As the top manager, the CEO is typically responsible for the entire operations of the corporation and reports directly to the chairman and board of directors. It is the CEO's responsibility to implement board decisions and initiatives and to maintain the smooth operation of the firm, with the assistance of senior management. Often, the CEO will also be designated as the company's president and will be one of the inside directors on the board (if not the chairman).

Chief financial officer (CFO)

Also reporting directly to the CEO, the CFO is responsible for analyzing and reviewing financial data, reporting financial performance, preparing budgets and monitoring expenditures and costs. The CFO is required to present this information to the board of directors at regular intervals and provide this information to shareholders and regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Also usually referred to as a senior vice president, the CFO routinely checks the corporation's financial health and integrity.

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

The CIO reports directly to the CEO and is a more internally oriented position focused on technology needed for running the company (and in IT fields, for maintaining foundational software platforms for any new applications).

General counsel

The organization's chief lawyer. In a company, the person holding this position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their duties involve overseeing and identifying the legal issues in all departments and their interrelation, including engineering, design, marketing, sales, distribution, credit, finance, human resources, production, as well as corporate governance and business policy. This would naturally require in most cases reporting directly to the owner or CEO overseeing the very business on which the CLA is expected to be familiar with and advise on the most confidential level. This requires the CLA/CLO/General Counsel to work closely with each of the other officers, and their departments, to appropriately be aware and advise. General counsel often have broad roles encompassing crisis management, compliance reporting management and public policy advocacy. Many companies also hire in-house counsel to handle specialized tasks such as tax work, mergers and acquisitions, labor law and intellectual property, sometimes building in-house practice groups that rival the practices of major law firms.

Chief Operations Officer (COO)

The COO looks after issues related to marketing, sales, production and personnel. More hands-on than the CEO, the COO looks after day-to-day activities while providing feedback to the CEO. The COO is often referred to as a senior vice president.

Chief Procurement Officer (CPO)

The CPO an executive role focused on sourcing, procurement, and supply management for an enterprise.

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

The CRO is responsible for all revenue generation processes in an organization, and is ultimately accountable for driving better integration and alignment between all revenue-related areas.

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

The CTO reports directly to the CEO and is responsible for scientific and technological issues within the organization. In some larger organizations, the CTO may report to the CIO or the CIO may report to the CTO.

Chief Visionary Officer (CVO)

The CVO is a high-level advisor to the CEO and other C-level executives. A CVO decides on the general direction of a company, and has a broad and comprehensive knowledge of all matters related to the business of the organization and the vision required to steer its course into the future. The CVO is generally in charge of defining corporate strategies, working plans, and often product ideas. Also has the core competencies of every other business-executive, which are used to play a role in performing aspects of the work of other C-level executives.

Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

The CHRO is the highest ranking corporate officer who oversees all aspects of human resource management and industrial relations policies, practices and operations for an organization

Chief Learning Officer (CLO)

The CLO is the highest-ranking corporate officer in charge of learning management. CLOs can be experts in corporate or personal training, with degrees in education, instructional design, business or similar fields.