The Role I Want (If I Could Just Write My Own Job Description)
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want next in my career—not just the title, not just the salary band, but the actual work. The stuff that makes me light up. The stuff I can’t not do. The stuff people always end up coming to me for, whether it’s technically my job or not.
So, for fun (and also because Cory Miller posted a prompt that dared me to get opinionated), I wrote the job description for the role I’m really chasing. And honestly? It felt… clarifying. Liberating, even. A little chaotic in the best way.
Here’s what I came up with.
Director of People, Process & Preventing Total Chaos
(Yes, I made up the title. Yes, I stand by it.)
Some people dream about launching startups or scaling empires. My dream? Helping humans grow and dismantling broken systems with the enthusiasm of someone who genuinely enjoys color-coding workflows. It’s a vibe.
I want to coach people into their next chapters.
The best part of leadership—hands down—is watching someone figure out who they are professionally and start believing in their own capability. I live for the “lightbulb” moment. I love watching someone come into a role unsure and then suddenly—boom—they’re flying.
Helping people succeed isn’t a bullet point for me; it’s a whole calling.
I want to build teams that are confident, capable, and (dare I say?) joyful.
Teams thrive when people feel supported and stretched in equal measure. When trust is real. When the expectations are clear. When someone has their back.
That’s the kind of environment I like to cultivate.
And yes, I want to fix the broken processes.
Give me the operational gremlins.
- The Zendesk workflow that somehow triggers seventeen macros and no one knows why.
- The ticket escalation path that requires a decoder ring.
- The onboarding docs written across six different platforms like a scavenger hunt no one asked to play.
- The “it’s just always been this way” rituals we all silently tolerate.
I love taking those things apart, understanding the “why,” and rebuilding them so they make sense. It’s oddly soothing. Some people knit; I streamline workflows.
I want to build systems that actually help humans do their jobs.
Clear training paths. Useful documentation. Tools that work with you, not against you. Processes that reduce friction instead of creating it.
Great teams deserve great systems. Period.
And maybe more than anything—I want to bring a little humanity to the operational side of leadership.
The best organizations don’t choose between people and process. They understand that the two are inseparable. Healthy systems empower people. Empowered people strengthen systems.
That sweet spot? That’s where I want to live.
So… why share this?
Because so many of us bend ourselves around job descriptions instead of imagining the roles that would genuinely light us up. Writing this out made something incredibly obvious: I’ve been doing this work for years. I just hadn’t named it.
And maybe you’re in the same boat—doing director-level work under a manager title, or leading without permission, or fixing things quietly because someone had to.
Sometimes defining the role you want helps you recognize the one you already play.
