Crossword Genius

Power worker to get on with operatives, keeping ahead of tense hierarchical structure (4,10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

line management

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

'hierarchical structure' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.

'power worker to get on with operatives keeping ahead of tense' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'worker' could be 'lineman' (lineman is a kind of worker) and 'lineman' is present in the answer.
'tense' could be 't' (grammatical abbreviation) and 't' is present in the answer.
'get on' could be 'age' (synonyms) and 'age' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'men' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for line management that I've seen before include "Direct superiors at work" , "superior activity?" , "Angling, say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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