Explain who can make which decisions and what approvals are required. Do not present limited or shared authority as unrestricted simply to strengthen a title.
Use concrete decision examples
Identify budget, staffing, policy or function decisions relevant to the proposed role, with the applicant’s actual discretion and constraints. Link the account to reliable organizational records. Describe who performs the underlying work and who resolves disagreements. A precise account of shared authority is more useful than generic claims that the applicant manages everything.
Hypothetical example: A renewable-energy equipment company describes its controller as an executive, but the board minutes reserve pricing, hiring, and budget approval to a foreign parent. Start with records that show the legal entities and then gather the documents that demonstrate actual discretion: delegations, budgets, organizational charts, policies, performance records, and examples of decisions. The first review should label each item by the proposition it supports. Do not use a broad chart as proof that the applicant personally exercises authority. Where decisions are shared, identify who makes the final call and what the applicant controls independently. Sequence evidence from corporate relationship to foreign employment to U.S. duties. Gaps often appear when titles differ across payroll, contracts, and internal systems, or when a new job description is more expansive than historical records. Correct the factual account rather than manufacturing consistency.
Retain the source record behind each claimed authority, especially where a policy limits the applicant's discretion. A precise limitation is safer than an expansive statement the company cannot later substantiate.