Career level · Head of function
Director CV writing
A director is hired to own a function's results. The CV has to show a function that performed differently because you ran it.
Chanuka Jeewantha
Read our 107 Reviews
Read all reviewsQuick answer
A director CV should show the function you owned, the budget or P&L you were accountable for, the strategy you set and the commercial results that followed. Write for the leadership team you would join: fewer operational tasks, more decisions, trade-offs and company-level outcomes. Chanuka writes director CVs at the $279 tier, for heads of function moving up or across.
Overview
At director level the question is no longer whether you can manage people. It is whether you can set a function's direction, hold its budget or P&L, and make it work with the rest of the business. Directors are usually assessed by the leadership team they would join, and that panel reads for commercial judgement, prioritisation and results sustained over a year or more, not individual project wins.
Focus
What a director CV has to prove.
- Function scope: budget or P&L, headcount, sites, markets
- The strategy you set for the function and the results it produced
- Cross-functional effect: what changed in sales, finance or operations because of your function
- Decisions with trade-offs: what you stopped, cut or reinvested in
- Your seat on the leadership team and what you contributed there
What changes
Compared with the level below.
Compared with a manager CV, operational detail gives way to direction and money. The reader assumes the function runs. They want to see where you took it, what you spent to get there, and how it moved the company's numbers.
Mistakes
What costs candidates at this level.
- A list of teams managed with no budget or P&L figure
- Strategy described as a document you wrote rather than a result you delivered
- Every achievement framed inside the function, none at company level
- Project wins given more space than the function's annual performance
- Leaving out who you reported to and which leadership team you sat on
FAQ
Director CV questions
How do I write a CV for a director role?
Open with a summary stating your function, scope and the kind of results you deliver, then give each director-level role a line of context and four to six outcome-led bullets. Include budget or P&L size, headcount and reporting line. Compress everything below director level. The reader is judging whether you can own a function's results, so every line should answer that.
Should I include P&L on my CV?
Yes, if you held P&L or budget accountability, state it with a figure or a clear range. It is one of the first things a senior panel looks for because it defines the weight of the role. If confidentiality prevents exact numbers, use a range or a relative measure, such as a share of group revenue.
How long should a director CV be?
Two pages is the standard for a director CV, and three is reasonable only when a long career includes several director-level roles that each need space. What matters is density: every role below director should shrink to one or two lines. Panels read director CVs carefully, but they still stop reading when the content starts to repeat.
How do I move from senior manager to director on my CV?
Rewrite your current role around function-level impact rather than team delivery: the budget you influence, decisions you shaped in leadership meetings, and results that reached the company's numbers. Show any time you acted up or deputised for a director. The panel needs evidence that you already think at function level, not a promise that you will.
Have your CV written for this level.
Choose your package, your experience level and how fast you need it. The price is shown before you commit.