director

/daɪ'rektə/ noun

1. a senior employee appointed by the shareholders to help run a company, who is usually in charge of one or other of its main functions, e.g. sales or human relations, and usually, but not always, a member of the board of directors

♦ directors’ salaries salaries of directors (which have to be listed in the company’s profit and loss account)

2. the person who is in charge of a project, an official institute or other organisation

● the director of the government research institute

● She was appointed director of the trade association.

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‘…the research director will manage and direct a team of business analysts reporting on the latest developments in retail distribution throughout the UK’ [Times]

COMMENT: Directors are elected by shareholders at the AGM, though they are usually chosen by the chairman or chief executive. A board will consist of a chairman (who may be non-executive), a chief executive or managing director and a series of specialist directors in charge of various activities of the company (such as a finance director, production director or sales director). The company secretary will attend board meetings, but need not be a director. Apart from the executive directors, who are in fact employees of the company, there may be several non-executive directors, appointed either for their expertise and contacts, or as representatives of important shareholders such as banks. The board of an American company may be made up of a large number of non-executive directors and only one or two executive officers. A British board has more executive directors.