"I could probably go to a smaller company and be a director, but that would be a step back in terms of scale and money."
This is what you needed to do. Companies were handing out Director titles like candy in 2021, but that ship has sailed.
I'm going on 10 years of management with another 6-7 years of IC experience. I'm starting to see directors at big tech companies that are not only younger than me, but with far less management experience. Granted, I did get a few unlucky breaks - first startup got acquired and the parent company brought their own execs in, second startup promised me a director role but wasn't a good fit, and my current role is in a bigger tech org and they're not promoting from within and all recent hires are from the C-suite's previous company.
I could probably go to a smaller company and be a director, but that would be a step back in terms of scale and money.
A lot of companies aren't hiring in the US like they were, so growing organically seems like a poor strategy.
Is there a secret I'm missing?
This is what you needed to do. Companies were handing out Director titles like candy in 2021, but that ship has sailed.