The 10 weirdest job titles in tech

While the IT industry has always been innovative, forward-thinking and, to make a sweeping generalization, populated by folks who are just a little bit odd, the last few years have seen that quirkiness reflected in IT job descriptions. From “Digital Prophet” to “Evangelists,” the sky’s the limit when it comes to describing roles at IT firms. And while there’s some argument about the benefits and drawbacks of off-the-wall titles, there’s no question that the trend is here to stay. Here, CIO.com has put together the ten weirdest IT job titles.

This lofty title belongs to David Shing (or Shingy, as he’s apparently known to friends and colleagues), who’s role at AOL involves making predictions about the future of tech and the IT industry. Whether or not his predictions come true, and how his accuracy affects his pay and job security, aren’t clear.

Microsoft seems to be leading the IT industry in weird job titles; in addition to Galactic Viceroy of Research Excellence James Mickens, the IT giant also employs an Innovation Sherpa and a Chief Envisioning Officer.

LinkedIn’s Matthew Shoup told FastCompany his position as Hacker in Residence requires him to “traverse multiple disciplines to solve business problems with creativity, and bring innovative ideas to life.” Where can we sign up?

Our understanding is that evangelists must have a deep understanding of all aspects of IT and be able to lobby the C-suite for resources, staff and budget to support continuing innovation and development. No church attendance required.

U.K. recruiting and staffing firm Coburg Banks brought this one to our attention; while the connotation isn’t the most pleasant, apparently the title is a synonym for a humble website manager.

It seems replacing the word “executive” or “manager” in a job title with any of the above elevates the role from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Just try it — we’ve seen Accounting Ninja, Digital Marketing Guru, Social Media Dynamo and Engineering Rockstar. Sounds infinitely more exciting than Account Executive, hmmm?

While wanting happiness at work, home and in your community is certainly an admirable goal, the fact that there’s an entire IT firm dedicated to the prospect — with a Chief Happiness Officer — seems a little extreme. What VC firm bankrolled this?

Kierkegaard, Locke and Descartes, eat your heart out. IT heavyweight Google’s created an in-house philosopher position responsible for — well, we’re not entirely sure. According to this article from The Teeming Brain, Damon Horowitz helps advocate for a moral compass in technology and for continued investment in humanities education.

While this title isn’t exactly weird, it seems odd that the IT industry would create a separate focus on digital and Internet technology — considering it is the foundation and basis for almost everything IT does. Why not incorporate aspects of digital fluency and innovation into each and every job at your firm? We’re not sure.

Joanna Pineda of The Matrix Group isn’t just the CEO of this interactive design and development firm, she’s also given herself the title of Chief Troublemaker. Now that’s a title we’d love to have.