How broad is the capability bundle inside a current management vacancy? MTF Institute analysed 100 distinct US management postings from eight 2026 Fortune 100 employers and counted explicit signals across 14 non-exclusive capability families. This report measures breadth within each posting, not only which skills were frequent across the sample.

Executive finding

The median vacancy signalled 10 of 14 capability families and the mean was 9.90. Eighty-seven postings signalled at least eight families, 67 signalled at least ten, and 41 signalled at least eleven. The observed range was five to fourteen.

Capability families signalled Vacancies
5 1
6 6
7 6
8 10
9 10
10 26
11 21
12 16
13 2
14 2

The practical conclusion is not that a candidate must claim mastery of everything. Broad job descriptions make prioritization and connected evidence more important. A credible application should show depth in the capability families that drive the role, plus one example that bridges several families.

Research question

How broad was the explicit capability bundle in 100 current US management vacancies, how did breadth vary across sampled functions and employers, and how should candidates convert breadth into credible evidence?

Scope and method

The frozen corpus contains 100 distinct public US management vacancy URLs captured on 10 August 2026 from Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google), UnitedHealth Group, McKesson, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and CVS Health. All eight employers were members of the 2026 Fortune 100. Employer counts were intentionally diverse but unequal.

The underlying coding framework was created for an earlier frequency study. It contains 14 non-exclusive binary fields: strategy and planning; execution and operations; programme and project management; people leadership; stakeholder coordination; communication and presentation; problem solving and decisions; negotiation and vendor work; financial and commercial work; data and analytics; AI, digital and technology; change and transformation; customer and market work; and governance and risk.

For each vacancy, breadth equals the sum of the 14 binary fields. No weight was applied. The study also joins a previously reviewed functional-family classification by stable sample ID and counts frequent pairs where two capabilities were both coded in the same posting.

Sample integrity

  • Valid observations: 100
  • Unique source URLs: 100
  • Employers: 8
  • Capability families: 14
  • Capture date: 10 August 2026
  • Publication date: 6 September 2026

The supporting workbook lists every sample ID, employer, title, source URL, capture date, field value, breadth, breadth band and functional family. Full vacancy text and personal applicant data are not redistributed.

Results by sampled function

Functional family n Mean breadth Median Range
Operations, project and supply 15 10.33 11.0 7-14
Product, technology and data 24 10.29 10.0 7-12
Sales, marketing and commercial 11 10.18 11.0 6-12
Healthcare and clinical 1 10.00 10.0 10-10
General and other management 36 9.64 10.0 6-14
Legal, risk and governance 8 9.25 9.5 5-12
Finance and financial services 5 9.00 9.0 7-11

The three largest high-breadth groups were operations/project/supply, product/technology/data, and sales/marketing/commercial. The differences are descriptive only. Group sizes are unequal, one group has a single vacancy, and the classification summarizes sampled titles rather than the full labour market.

Results by sampled employer

Employer n Mean breadth Median Range
Microsoft 12 11.58 12.0 10-14
McKesson 12 10.42 10.5 8-12
JPMorgan Chase 12 10.17 10.5 7-12
Apple 18 9.78 10.0 5-12
Alphabet (Google) 15 9.67 10.0 6-13
UnitedHealth Group 13 9.54 10.0 6-13
Amazon 13 9.15 9.0 6-14
CVS Health 5 8.00 8.0 6-10

These results must not be used as an employer ranking. Counts are unequal, roles differ by function and seniority, and broad wording does not prove a better job or workplace.

Frequent capability combinations

The most frequent pair connected customer/market work with execution/operations in 96 vacancies. Customer/market work with stakeholder coordination appeared in 92, as did execution/operations with stakeholder coordination. Customer/market work with governance/risk appeared in 88, and execution/operations with governance/risk in 87.

High pair counts reflect the broad coding frame. They show co-disclosure, not that both capabilities received equal emphasis, were equally difficult or were used together in actual work.

BREADTH-5: how candidates can use the finding

Step Candidate action Required evidence
Bound Choose one target role and mark only explicit capability families Highlighted vacancy with source date
Rank Select the three families most central to the role's outcomes Priority rationale and trade-offs
Evidence Prepare one privacy-safe work sample for each priority family Decision, inputs, output and limitation
Bridge Show one example connecting two or more families Traceable sequence and metric
Review Name authority, gaps and the next learning action Honest boundary statement

Do not respond to a broad vacancy by copying all 14 families into a profile. Build depth in the three that determine the role's outcomes, then show one credible bridge. For example, a portfolio record might connect customer evidence to an operational change, stakeholder decision, risk control and measurable result without exposing confidential data.

Limitations

The sample is purposive, not random, and includes eight employers with uneven counts. Vacancy pages can change or disappear. The analysis measures explicit text, not real work, proficiency, time allocation, authority or hiring outcomes. Codes overlap and were inherited from a prior study. Broad terms may compress different forms of work. Functional families are descriptive. No causal, employer-quality, credential-effect or population claim is made.

Reproducibility and archival record

The searchable PDF and supporting workbook are archived at Zenodo under DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22416936. The workbook provides the row-level source inventory and calculations needed to reproduce the descriptive tables, subject to the continued availability of employer pages.

Practical learning pathway

MTF Institute's Advanced Executive Program in Management & Business Administration connects strategy, finance, commercial leadership, operations, AI and people in an integrated applied pathway. Use BREADTH-5 before choosing development work: identify the three capability families central to a target role, create evidence in those areas, then add one cross-functional bridge. The programme is professional education, not an academic degree, and does not guarantee employment or promotion.

Sources