chief executive officer
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chief executive officer
The person in the leading position of a large company, association, or organization who bears overall responsibility for management.
Der Hauptgeschäftsführer des Industrieverbandes präsentierte die Jahresbilanz.
The chief executive officer of the industry association presented the annual financial statement.
This long word is easy to understand if you break it into its three parts: 'Haupt-' (chief/head), 'Geschäft' (business), and 'Führer' (leader). So it literally describes the top leader of the business operations.
Der Hauptgeschäftsführer leitet die gesamte Organisation.
The chief executive officer leads the entire organization.
This title is used mainly in formal written language for the leadership of large associations, chambers (e.g. IHK, Chamber of Industry and Commerce), or very large companies. In everyday office life, the term is uncommon.
In seiner Funktion als Hauptgeschäftsführer sprach er auf der Konferenz.
In his role as chief executive officer, he spoke at the conference.
The position usually refers to an organization, which is often expressed with the genitive. Typical formulations are 'der Hauptgeschäftsführer des Verbandes' (the chief executive officer of the association) or 'die Hauptgeschäftsführerin der Handwerkskammer' (the chief executive officer of the Chamber of Crafts).
Der Hauptgeschäftsführer des Deutschen Städtetages gab eine Pressekonferenz.
The chief executive officer of the German Association of Cities gave a press conference.
manager
'der Manager' and 'der Hauptgeschäftsführer' can both mean a person in a leadership role in an organization or company. However, a manager can work at different levels, for example for a team, a department, or a division. The chief executive officer is very high up and bears overall responsibility for the management of a large organization, association, or company. The words can be confused because both refer to leadership roles. 'Manager' is more general; 'Hauptgeschäftsführer' is a much higher and more specific position.
Auf der Jahresversammlung stellt der Hauptgeschäftsführer die neuen Ziele der Organisation vor.
At the annual meeting, the chief executive officer presents the organization's new goals.
Greta schreibt dem Manager eine E-Mail mit Fragen zum Praktikum.
Greta writes the manager an email with questions about the internship.