Web part name (as shown in web part properties) to which you’re suggesting an enhancement
People Directory
What is current web part behavior (or look) that doesn’t work for you?
We can’t do custom ranking.
What would you like the web part behavior (or look) to be?
We’d like to have the option to do custom ranking by Job Title. For example: We want staff with SVP in their job title to display first, VP second, AVP third, Manager fourth, and so on.
What is the scenario for which you need the suggested new look/behavior?
This helps staff know who to contact based on seniority.
Thank you for your suggestion! Your requirements are clear and we will post an update here shortly.
Keyword Query Language (KQL) in SharePoint and Microsoft Search does not support custom sorting by specific weights directly in the query.
As a workaround you can create a sortable managed property for each user profile that holds a weight (e.g., numeric value 1 for SVP, numeric value 2 for VP etc). Then you can tell the web part to sort by that custom field.
Here are the manuals how to create a custom field: People Directory for SharePoint
See section titled: Creating a custom property to show on a contact card
Note that it might take 24-48 hours for SharePoint to start picking up values in the field.
Once created, in the web part you want to enter this custom rank field in this property (under Refiners & Filters):
