Taxonomy • titleclassifier

Every title that titleclassifier codes ends up described along four dimensions:

Dimension	Columns	Set by	Answers
Standard title	`title.standard`	crosswalk, step 07	which title is this, spelled one way?
Domain and occupation	`domain.category`, `domain.label`, SOC codes	taxonomy, step 08	what area of work is it in?
Level or board role	`emp.level` or `board.role` (title only); `role.final`, `role.board`, `role.ceo` (resolved)	taxonomy, step 08; rules and model, step 09	how senior is the person, and are they staff or board?
Qualifiers	`strata`, `strata.label`, status flags, multiple-title fields	crosswalk, steps 04, 06 and 07	rank within the title, status in the role, other roles held

The standard titles and their taxonomy are package data: get_title_taxonomy() returns one row per standard title (450 titles), and get_title_xwalk() maps the 9,181 known variants onto them.

Domains

The domain says what area of an organization the title works in. It has two levels: four broad categories, plus a fifth for entries that are not job titles, and a label within each category.

`domain.category`	Meaning
executive	top staff leadership and general management
governance	board members and board officers
operations	support functions found in any organization: finance, fundraising, HR, technology, …
industry-specific	work specific to the organization’s field: medical, education, religion, …
non-job title	no title, boilerplate in place of one, or text that is not a job

domain.category	domain.label	titles	examples
executive	general management	29	CEO, COO, CO-CEO, FOUNDER
governance	board	5	BOARD MEMBER, BOARD PRESIDENT, BOARD SECRETARY, BOARD TREASURER
operations	administration	62	CAO, CLERK, STAFF, INTERN
operations	marketing and communications	35	CMO, LIAISON, MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS
operations	finance	29	CFO, ACTUARY, AUDITOR, FINANCE
operations	fundraising and membership	27	ENDOWMENTS, MEMBERSHIP, DEVELOPMENT, FUNDRAISING
operations	programs and events	26	EVENTS, PROGRAMS, PROGRAMMING, CIVIC DIRECTOR
operations	business development	24	ADVISOR, STRATEGY, CONSULTANT, BUSINESS GAENT
operations	facilities	15	GUARD, FOREMAN, JANITOR, ENGINEER
operations	human resources	12	TRAINING, RECRUITMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, TRAINING OFFICER
operations	legal	12	LAWYER, ATTORNEY, LEGISLATIVE, LEGAL ADVISOR
operations	technology	12	WEBMASTER, TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION OFFICER, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER
operations	writers and editors	6	EDITOR, WRITER, PUBLISHER, SENIOR EDITOR
operations	research and development	5	SCIENTIST, SENIOR FELLOW, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
industry-specific	arts and history	44	ACTOR, ARTIST, CURATOR, COMPOSER
industry-specific	medical	20	NURSE, DOCTOR, SURGEON, THERAPIST
industry-specific	education	17	TEACHER, EDUCATOR, EDUCATION, PRINCIPAL
industry-specific	higher education	16	DEAN, FACULTY, PROVOST, LECTURER
industry-specific	religion	9	IMAM, ELDER, DEACON, PASTOR
industry-specific	military	7	CAPTAIN, MARSHAL, MILITARY, LIEUTENANT
industry-specific	public safety	7	PILOT, PARAMEDIC, FIRE CHIEF, DEPUTY CHIEF
industry-specific	hospitality	5	CHEF, BARTENDER, CONCESSIONS, EXECUTIVE CHEF
industry-specific	recreation and sports	5	COACH, SPORTS, ATHLETE, SPORTS DIRECTOR
industry-specific	engineering and architecture	4	ARCHITECT, CHIEF ARCHITECT, DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, CHIEF MECHANICAL OFFICER
industry-specific	social services	4	SOCIAL, COUNSELOR, SOCIAL WORKER, ADOPTION COUNSELOR
industry-specific	housing	3	VICE PRESIDENT OF HOUSING, VICE PRESIDENT OF HOUSING OPERATIONS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF HOUSING OPERATIONS
industry-specific	utilities	1	LINEMAN
non-job title	none	7	CHIEF, JUNIOR, OUTGOING, ALTERNATE
non-job title	missing	2	NA, NO TITLE

The source of the domain vocabulary is data-raw/crosswalks/domains.csv.

Occupation codes (SOC)

Job titles carry a 2018 BLS Standard Occupational Classification code at four levels: major.group (two digits), minor.group, broad.group and detailed.occupation, with the occupation’s name in soc.label. Board seats have no SOC code: serving on a board is not an occupation.

major.group	titles	occupations
11	186	Sales Managers, Chief Executives, Lodging Managers
13	35	Fundraisers, Loan Officers, Compliance Officers
15	3	Actuaries, Web Developers, Computer Occupations
17	2	Architects, Except Naval
19	5	Historians, Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
21	14	Clergy, Counselors, Religious Workers, All Other
23	7	Lawyers, Legal Support Workers, All Other
25	23	Curators, Archivists, Postsecondary Teachers
27	40	Actors, Editors, Art Directors
29	10	Surgeons, Paramedics, Physicians
33	5	Firefighters, Security Guards, First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers
35	3	Bartenders, Chefs and Head Cooks
37	4	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners, First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers
39	1	Tour Guides and Escorts
41	2	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers, Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
43	14	Dispatchers, Office Clerks, General, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
49	2	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
53	1	Commercial Pilots

Most leadership titles fall in major group 11, Management Occupations.

Roles

A person’s role is the central output. It has two forms:

Title only (step 08): the taxonomy gives each standard title either an employee level (emp.level) or a board role (board.role), never both. This is what the title says on its own.
Resolved (step 09): role.final is the role after reading the filer’s checkboxes, pay and hours. A PRESIDENT is a board seat by title, but a paid, full-time president with no other CEO is the CEO. See step 09.

Employee levels

Level	Who	Example titles
CEO	the top staff job; one person per filing, or co-CEOs	CEO, CO-CEO, PASTOR, PRESIDENT
OFFICER	C-suite below the CEO, vice presidents, deputies, general counsel	CAO, CFO, CMO, COO
MANAGER	directors of departments and managers	DEAN, CAPTAIN, FOREMAN, MANAGER
PROFESSIONAL	highly paid non-managerial experts: physicians, lawyers, professors, coaches	ACTOR, COACH, NURSE, PILOT
STAFF	everyone else on staff: counselors, chefs, teachers, assistants	CHEF, IMAM, CLERK, ELDER

table(tax$emp.level[tax$emp.level != ""])
#> 
#>          CEO      MANAGER      OFFICER PROFESSIONAL        STAFF 
#>           11          129          139           40          116

Board roles

Board role	Standard title	Variants include
CHAIR	BOARD PRESIDENT	CHAIR, CHAIRMAN, CHAIRPERSON, PRESIDENT (unpaid)
VICE CHAIR	BOARD VICE PRESIDENT	VICE CHAIR, VICE PRESIDENT (on the board)
SECRETARY	BOARD SECRETARY	SECRETARY, CLERK, ADJUTANT
TREASURER	BOARD TREASURER	TREASURER
MEMBER	BOARD MEMBER	DIRECTOR, TRUSTEE, GOVERNOR, COMMITTEE MEMBER, …

When step 09 turns an employee title into a board seat (an unpaid VICE PRESIDENT who ticks only the trustee box, say), role.board is read from the title: VICE PRESIDENT becomes VICE CHAIR.

Resolved role columns

Column	Values	Meaning
`role.final`	CEO, OFFICER, MANAGER, PROFESSIONAL, STAFF, BOARD	the person’s role
`role.board`	CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, SECRETARY, TREASURER, MEMBER	for BOARD: the seat; for a person with several board titles, the most senior
`role.ceo`	designated, co-ceo, interim, imputed, model	for CEO: how the CEO was found. `designated`: a CEO-level title in an officer position. `co-ceo`: two or more designated. `interim`: designated and flagged interim. `imputed`: no CEO title, the highest-paid plausible leader. `model`: named by the 990-EZ model
`role.position`	board, officer, board_officer, staff, unknown	the position from the checkboxes (or title and pay)
`role.source`	checkbox, title+pay, title	what settled the position
`role.method`	rules, model	which classifier decided (Rules and models)
`org.leadership`	designated, imputed, model, board_governed, no_paid	per filing: how its chief executive was found. `board_governed`: people are paid but none is a plausible leader. `no_paid`: nobody is paid

Strata

The crosswalk drops rank and type words from the standard title and records them in strata and strata.label, so that SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING and VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING share one standard but stay distinguishable.

`strata`	Meaning	`strata.label` values
superior	a higher rank of the title	head, chair, chief, grand, senior, exalted, general, leading, managing, executive, executive senior
subordinate	a lower rank of the title	vice, deputy, junior, advisory, assistant, associate
duplex	a second kind of seat alongside the usual one	co, adhoc, advisory, at large, emeritus, honorary, alternate, exofficio
committee	a committee seat, and which committee	hr, vp, chair, member, finance, lifetime, executive, marketing, management, supervisory
regional	a regional version of the title	regional
exofficio	a seat held by virtue of another office	exofficio

table(xwalk$strata[xwalk$strata != ""])
#> 
#>   committee      duplex   exofficio    regional   regional? subordinate 
#>         278         138           1         192           1         209 
#>    superior 
#>         358
head(xwalk[xwalk$strata == "superior", ], 6)
#>         title.variant   title.standard   strata strata.label
#> 773       BOARD CHAIR  BOARD PRESIDENT superior        chair
#> 1403     CHIEF ACCOUN CHIEF ACCOUNTANT superior        chief
#> 1404 CHIEF ACCOUNTANT CHIEF ACCOUNTANT superior        chief
#> 1417  CHIEF ARCHITECT  CHIEF ARCHITECT superior        chief
#> 1430        CHIEF CEO              CEO superior        chief
#> 1432      CHIEF CLERK      CHIEF CLERK superior        chief

Status flags

Step 06 removes status qualifiers from the title and records each as a 0/1 flag. A person’s flags apply to all of their titles.

Flag	Set when the title says	Examples
`former.x`	the person has left the role	FORMER, PAST, EMERITUS, RETIRED
`interim.x`	the role is temporary	INTERIM, ACTING, TEMPORARY
`future.x`	the person started during the year or will start	ELECT, INCOMING, SINCE, EFFECTIVE
`outgoing.x`	the person left during the year	OUTGOING, THRU, UNTIL, RESIGNED, TERM ENDED
`partial.x`	part of the year only: a date, or outgoing, future or partial-year status	PARTIAL YEAR, PART YEAR
`founder.x`	the person founded the organization	FOUNDER, CO-FOUNDER
`ex.officio.x`	the seat comes with another office	EX OFFICIO
`at.large.x`	a seat not tied to a constituency	AT LARGE, AS NEEDED, PROXY
`co.x`	the role is shared	CO-CHAIR, CO-DIRECTOR
`region.x`	the role covers a region or chapter	REGIONAL, CHAPTER, DISTRICT, state and city names
`sched.o.x`	the filer pointed to Schedule O instead of a title	SEE SCHEDULE O
`date.x`	the title contained a date (step 02)	(THRU 6/2023), 2021-2023

The status crosswalk lists every spelling of each status:

table(sc$status.qualifier)
#> 
#>  AT LARGE   CURRENT EXOFFICIO    FORMER   FOUNDER    FUTURE   INTERIM  OUTGOING 
#>         5         1         4        14         4        30         6        33 
#>   PARTIAL  REGIONAL   SCHED O 
#>        10       182         5
head(sc[sc$status.qualifier == "FUTURE", ], 8)
#>    status.variant status.qualifier
#> 29          AFTER           FUTURE
#> 30            BEG           FUTURE
#> 31          BEGAN           FUTURE
#> 32           BEGI           FUTURE
#> 33          BEGIN           FUTURE
#> 34      BEGINNING           FUTURE
#> 35            EFF           FUTURE
#> 36      EFFECTIVE           FUTURE

People with several roles

A Part VII entry can name several roles, and a person can sit on the board and work on staff. These are recorded at three levels:

Several titles in one entry. “PRESIDENT & TREASURER” becomes two rows (step 04). title.count is the person’s number of titles, title.order this title’s position, and title.mult.x marks people with more than one. Both rows carry the person’s pay and hours once; the per-filing counts (num.dtk, num.board, …) weight them so that the person is counted once.
One role per person. Step 09 resolves each person to a single role.final, using their most senior position, and marks one of their rows with role.primary = TRUE. Count people with role.primary; count titles without it.
Dual roles. A person who ticks both the trustee and officer boxes holds a board seat and an office (role.position = "board_officer"). They are BOARD unless paid in an executive title, in which case they are CEO or OFFICER: a working board member who runs the organization.
Shared roles. co.x marks a shared title (CO-CHAIR). Two or more designated CEOs in a filing are each role.ceo = "co-ceo".

data(tinypartvii)
set.seed(3)
df <- dplyr::sample_n(tinypartvii, 400) |>
  standardize_df() |> remove_dates() |> standardize_conj() |> split_titles() |>
  standardize_spelling() |> gen_status_codes() |> standardize_titles() |>
  categorize_titles() |> conditional_logic()
#> [OK] standardize df step complete
#> [OK] remove dates step complete
#> [OK] standardize conjunctions step complete
#> [OK] split titles step complete
#> [OK] standardize spelling step complete
#> [OK] generate status codes step complete
#> [OK] standardize titles step complete
#> [OK] categorize titles step complete
#> 
#> [OK] conditional logic step complete
multi <- df[df$title.count > 1, c("dtk.name", "title.raw", "title.standard", "title.order",
                                  "role.position", "role.final", "role.primary")]
head(multi[order(multi$dtk.name, multi$title.order), ], 8)
#>            dtk.name                           title.raw
#> 236   AMIEE L SMITH                  PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR
#> 237   AMIEE L SMITH                  PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR
#> 3   Austin Woodruff President and Chairman of the Board
#> 4   Austin Woodruff President and Chairman of the Board
#> 232 DEBBIE WILLIAMS                  EXECUTIVE VP & COO
#> 233 DEBBIE WILLIAMS                  EXECUTIVE VP & COO
#> 364 James B Pieffer              Director and President
#> 365 James B Pieffer              Director and President
#>               title.standard title.order role.position role.final role.primary
#> 236          BOARD PRESIDENT           1         board      BOARD         TRUE
#> 237             BOARD MEMBER           2         board      BOARD        FALSE
#> 3            BOARD PRESIDENT           1         staff        CEO         TRUE
#> 4            BOARD PRESIDENT           2         staff        CEO        FALSE
#> 232 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT           1       officer        CEO         TRUE
#> 233  CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER           2       officer        CEO        FALSE
#> 364             BOARD MEMBER           1 board_officer      BOARD         TRUE
#> 365          BOARD PRESIDENT           2 board_officer      BOARD        FALSE