job title question

Donƒ??t know what anyone else calls them, but my ƒ??Survey Managerƒ? schedules crews, checks all incoming field notes, orders supplies, calculates?ÿ DC uploads for next day layouts, and goes in the field when necessary.

To me a ƒ??Chief of Partiesƒ? is a Party Chief.

At places I've worked where both titles were used (mostly multidisciplinary design firms):

Chief of Parties (or Field Coordinator) managed and scheduled the field crew, purchased equipment, set up files/folders for the field, and managed the vehicle fleet.

Survey Manger oversaw all suvery operations, wrote proposals, managed budgets, etc.

The Chief of Parties reported to the Survey Manager; the Survey Manager reported to (or was) a principal of the firm.

Different roles, and a different skill set.

The survey manager is responsible for scheduling crews, and often for managing training, education and survey data. Typically if the office is runnning less than 4 crews, these duties would fall to the PLS, LSIT, or senior CAD staff. In government or very large organizations, this could also fall under the duties of the construction manager...... who may not have much survey experience, but would have excellent scheduling and management skills.

The chief of parties (or party chief) is a skilled field technician who would be resonsible for his/her assistant(S), and primarily responsible for the data collection, layout, and communication with on-site consultants and site superintendents.

They are VERY different roles, but as the office shrinks in size, there becomes more and more overlap.

Traditionally each crew has a 'Party Chief' and the most senior chief or manager of the crews was 'Chief of Parties'. My first stint in that position was renamed 'Field Coordinator' to make the Drafter happy.

As 'Survey Manager' the duties were much broader. You generally manage all Survey personnel and equipment. The duties (and geography to some extent) should drive the Title.?ÿ

Chief of Parties is the head party chief and goes from party to party as needed directing their operations in the field. Has knowledge of any and all possible duties of the field crew and use of all equipment.

Survey Manager is usually the person in the office that keeps up with where and what the survey parties are to go and do. Would take the information as it comes in from the field and checks for completeness and file it where it belongs and passes it on to the person that needs the data.

Often one person can find themselves being responsible for all that and more within the company.

It's going to vary from place to place, but at any place that has both a Chief of Parties and a Survey Manager the Survey Manager is going to be higher in the pecking order than the Chief of Parties. The C.O.P. may have influence in hiring and firing decisions but the SM will have the final say.

At the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (20+ years ago) the Survey Division 'Head' signed all survey related correspondence as "Chief-of-Parties".?ÿ The job title was listed as "Survey Division Manager" and required not only a surveying license but a PE also.?ÿ It was, at that time, implied that the "Chief of Parties"?ÿwas the lord-high mocus grand poobah within that realm.?ÿ Things may have changed over the years.?ÿ I can't say I've seen the term anymore than once or twice since then.

Our friend Bill, the 'Bard of the Ages' said it so well as he related to us what Juliet Capulet had to say about names,

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;.."

In my experience, the Survey Manager is a manager of the survey department and chief of parties is a field crew coordinator or the senior crew chief.

As can be seen from all these posts, the definition of each of those job titles can vary quite a bit.

The COP title can vary from the lower end as being equivalent to a Field Coordinator who handles field scheduling, ordering field supplies, arranging for equipment repair and maintenance, field note checking, calculations, and not much else.

At the higher end, the COP may also be a project manager, may arrange for or conduct training, may spend time in the field when a crew needs a little extra direction, may make hiring and other personnel decisions, and may sign some of the final work product. That's pretty much the description of the Survey Manager position.

When I review resumes, I put more weight on the description of duties than the job title because the same title at different organizations can mean very different levels of responsibility and authority.

If I were assigning titles, the Survey Manager title would not be used for a position that did not have authority over other positions. Someone performing Field Coordinator duties, but not having authority over the field crews might get the COP title if that is important to them, but would not get the SM title until they have demonstrated that they are ready to assume a level of authority.

If, in that position, you have the authority to at least send an employee home for the day without pay, and without fist clearing it with someone up the managerial chain, then you probably have enough authority to warrant the SM title. Less authority than that, and the SM title is misleading to others and to the employee holding the title.