acting head
Substitute in charge
An acting head is someone temporarily filling the role of head—whether of a department, organization, or institution—while the permanent position is vacant or the usual occupant is unavailable.
The term emphasizes the provisional nature of the authority: She served as acting head of the division until a replacement was hired.
- interimProvisional in-between phase
- pro temTemporarily in place
- temporaryLimited in duration
- second in commandSubordinate who assumes leadership
- substituteReplacement for another
caretaker · holding the fort · placeholder · stand-in · fill-in · stopgap · stepping up · replacement · understudy · proxy · provisional · transitional · taking over · in charge · figurehead · successor · next in line · appointee
- Deputiesdeputy, lieutenant, second-in-command, second in command, number two
- temporary rolestemp, temp worker, internship, substitute, interim
- school leadersprincipal, headmaster, dean, headmistress, superintendent
position in hierarchy
acting headsubordinate
One lower in rank
deputy · assistant · underling · junior staff · rank and file
act, acting, acts, acted, action, actions, active, actively, activate