In researching the post on cutting-edge job titles for green leaders, GreenBiz.com asked an experienced recruiter for sustainability and CSR positions for her take on the subject.

Ellen Weinreb, the CEO of Sustainability Recruiting and a guest writer for GreenBiz.com, looked at our list, added a CEO title that she'd come across and shared these thoughts:

Using titles that break from tradition is a way of "marketing the brand of a company," says Weinreb.

"The companies using these titles are iconoclasts -- they are trying to communicate that they are a light-hearted and whimsical company, and that they are a good place to work because they are fun," she says, referring to some of the more unusual handles.

"They [the titles] also say something about the individuals, about who they are and who they want to be, it's like a tagline for a brand."

As with most strategies, there is an upside and downside to using nonstandard titles.

On one hand, they help firms differentiate themselves from competitors by "creating an emblem" for their companies, she says, and by signaling both their tone and their sensibilities.

But the more fanciful titles can also leave a negative impression among those who equate business credibility and reliability with a more button-down image.

In a recent article, Weinreb notes that despite the growth in senior-level corporate sustainability positions at companies in all industries, there is still a notable lack of sustainability professionals in the C-Suite. She writes:

Just as CSR titles began to proliferate a decade ago, the CSO title will become more common as companies follow their competitors' lead.

"I believe that "CSO" is a title that senior-most CSR executives will increasingly carry. They will achieve this not by their individual might and muster, but because more of their peers at competing companies have taken on the title. Should this become industry best practice, questionnaires, surveys and shareholder resolutions will nudge the title further along."

So do the whimsical titles help this effort? Not so much, Weinreb says. The risk in using fun or edgy titles is that "more traditional business people may perceive them as perpetuating an image of a bunch of hippy treehuggers," she says.

Though such sentiments are unlikely to affect chief executives with nonstandard titles, others further down the corporate food chain may want to take such views into consideration when they pursue other opportunities; their resumes should describe their duties so that their roles are clear.

What would Weinreb think if she saw such a title on a candidate's resume? "My question would be, what's the real title," she says.

Have you or your company created new titles or positions for the green leaders in your business? Do you know of others who have? What are your thoughts on this strategy? Share your comments below or write us at gbx@greenbiz.com.

Top image CC licensed by Flickr user user Office Now. 
Inset images: Balloon-filled cubicle photo CC licensed by Flickr user disterics; suit and tie photo by sxc user itz and nameplates courtesy of Reynolds Rubber Stamp Company.