Associations taking time to get letterhead for offices (6)
I believe the answer is:
titles
'offices' is the definition.
(both can mean positions or responsibilities)
'associations taking time to get letterhead' is the wordplay.
'associations' becomes 'ties' ('tie' can be a synonym of 'association').
'taking' is an insertion indicator.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'to get letterhead' becomes 'l' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
't'+'l'='tl'
'ties' enclosing 'tl' is 'TITLES'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for titles that I've seen before include "Names or headings" , "Appellations of rank" , "'Names of books, plays etc (6)'" , "Book names" , "Lord, Lady etc." .)