Employed American Executive Director (4)

I believe the answer is:

used

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'employed' is the definition.
('use' can be a synonym of 'employ')

'american executive director' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'executive director' becomes 'ed' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'us'+'ed'='USED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for used that I've seen before include "Dues (anag.)" , "Old" , "Not fresh" , "Exploited group" , "Took advantage of" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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