I'm on a tech team for what is essentially a large but not really tech-focused company. As such, I report up through a non tech department.
My position was created for me by an exec who no longer works there, and a while ago I was moved into this dept without knowing. (I saw the change in the employee directory.) Shortly after, my current manager was put in charge of me, and started hiring more people with similar job titles -- though with far less experience.
I've asked multiple times what my role is supposed to be -- both how he sees my day-to-day, and how I fit into the larger company, and have never gotten a direct answer. He has micromanaged and slowed down projects -- in fact, the biggest wins we've had is when I've gone rogue and just built things -- the latest, to help other depts work from home during quarantine, is now being highlighted in a presentation to our corporate parent, and he had told me not to bother. (I obviously did it, anyway.) Of course, he's being hailed as a visionary because of it.
So my question, HN -- short of quitting, which I would rather not do -- how do I get out from under this manager? There are not any similar roles that I know of in the company -- I just want to get a different manager....
One non-confrontational way is to look for other managers and see if you can show them your value. e.g. do a small project for one (or a few) you like and show them the value of having someone like you on their team and then push for one of them to open a role for you etc. This is a very successful way to do this in larger organizations and it makes it non-confrontational with your current manager so you don't create issues while you are still working for him/her. Of course, if your current manager feels you are disloyal that is a different issue, so you have to be smart how you do this, but it can be very good way to move around. BTW if you do this, you essentially are creating the role so you have to define your value and what you can bring to the team since many times "managers" are not very visionary and are more task focused. If you find a real leader then that is totally different and would generally be a better fit, but sadly middle management has that name for a reason.
Other options exist of course, just one idea.