Company Structures: Big and Small

Knowing how different teams work together is important, whether you’re already part of a company or moving into a new role.

Bigger companies tend to have specialized departments, while smaller ones often need people to wear multiple hats. Here’s a quick overview of common departments and roles, what to expect in both large and small companies, and how to navigate the structure while understanding where challenges might arise.

Big companies

Executive Leadership

CEO / Founder: (Chief Executive Officer) Oversees overall vision and strategy.
CTO (Chief Technology Officer): Leads tech direction.
CPO (Chief Product Officer): Leads product vision and strategy.
COO (Chief Operations Officer): Ensures operational efficiency.
CFO (Chief Financial Officer): Manages financial strategies.
CMO (Chief Marketing Officer): Drives marketing strategies.

Product Department

VP of Product: Manages product strategy, roadmaps, and goals.
Product Managers: Lead the development and iteration of digital products.
Product Analysts: Support decision-making with data insights and user analytics.
Product Designers: Work closely with UX to define user flows and wireframes.

UX / Design Department

VP of Design / Head of UX: Ensures the UX strategy aligns with product goals.
UX Designers: Focus on user research, wireframing, and user flow optimization.
UI Designers: Handle interface design, ensuring visual consistency across platforms.
UX Researchers: Lead user testing, surveys, and interviews to inform design.
Content Strategists: Define content structure and messaging for user experience.
Design Systems Team: Maintains design standards and components for scalability.

Technology / Engineering Department

VP of Engineering / Engineering Managers: Lead overall technical direction.
Backend Engineers: Handle server-side development and APIs.
Frontend Engineers: Focus on the user interface and ensuring the product’s look and feel match the designs.
Full-stack Developers: Handle both frontend and backend as needed.
DevOps Engineers: Manage infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and deployments.
QA Engineers: Ensure the quality of the product with testing.

Marketing Department

VP of Marketing / Marketing Managers: Oversee strategy for user acquisition, engagement, and retention.
Growth Marketers: Focus on growth hacking, customer journey optimization, and A/B testing.
SEO / SEM Specialists: Optimize organic and paid traffic strategies.
Brand Designers: Ensure that marketing assets align with product branding.

Sales & Customer Success Department

VP of Sales: Responsible for sales strategy, business development, and hitting revenue targets.
Sales Teams: Focus on selling the product and nurturing leads.
Customer Success Managers: Ensure existing customers are supported and satisfied.

Customer Support

Customer Support Leads: Oversee the customer service team, focusing on user feedback and problem resolution.
Technical Support: Assists with resolving product-related technical issues.

Data / Analytics Department

Data Scientists: Analyze user behavior, product performance, and business metrics.
Data Engineers: Build the infrastructure for data collection and processing.
Business Analysts: Work closely with product and UX to inform decisions with metrics.

Legal / Compliance

In-house Legal Counsel: Manages contracts, IP, and ensures compliance with digital regulations (like GDPR).

Human Resources

VP of People: Focuses on recruitment, culture, and employee development.
Recruiters / HR Managers: Handle hiring, onboarding, and maintaining company culture.

Common Conflicts Between Departments

Product vs. UX: Product may push for features, while UX wants to simplify the user experience.
Marketing vs. Product: Marketing might prioritize fast releases for campaigns, while Product teams may need more time to refine the product.
Engineering vs. Design: Designers may propose ideas that are difficult or time-consuming for engineers to implement.
Sales vs. Product: Sales might promise features to clients that the product team hasn’t developed yet.

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Introduction