chief executive officer
Loading your saved state.
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.
managing director
Both words refer to a person responsible for day-to-day business operations. A Geschäftsführer may have this responsibility generally or alone, while Hauptgeschäftsführer refers to a prominent leadership position over other Geschäftsführer. Use Geschäftsführer as the neutral term, and Hauptgeschäftsführer when this senior position is important.
Der Hauptgeschäftsführer koordiniert die weiteren Geschäftsführer und trägt die Gesamtverantwortung.
The chief executive coordinates the other managing directors and bears overall responsibility.
Der Geschäftsführer leitet das Unternehmen und kümmert sich um die laufenden Geschäfte.
The managing director runs the company and takes care of its day-to-day operations.
