How can I deal with someone at work who I feel is overstepping boundaries?

send her this as an email, let us know what she says?

Just ask in an email to your supervisor, copy to her, if you may please be included in any discussions that involve your job. Make no complaints, refer to no past incidents, do not mention her except on the cc line. Everyone will get the point.

Sounds like she likes you. Ask her out to dinner.

I second what @pdworkin suggested, and include your current project list with a status and degrees of completion. State that it’s impossible to do work on projects where you are required to play telephone in order to get requirements and provide feedback. Before you send that, you should have a one-on-one with your supervisor and ask if she is being replaced by this person, as she is treating you as her direct report, and that if she has plans to leave the company you would like to know so that you could look for other work. Then list out specific projects where this person has assigned you work without including you in the decision process, and with total disregard to the work assigned to you by your supervisor. I’m sure that with a little thought you can direct your irritation with this person into genuine concern for your manager’s job.

Propose ideas of your own, which are more visionary and more specifically yours. Show you have an idea of where you want your projects and your role to go, and see who the manager agrees with.

I second what @Parrappa said. Where you gonna take her? Let us know how the date went, k?

The company likes her ideas for some reason, right. Are her ideas making improvements or profit for them? You are a tool to be implemented, she can’t be faulted for tapping all available resources to advance herself while benefiting the company. Since you recognize your part in all this, step up politely and confidently and so as @pdworkin suggests, ask to be included and to also have the go ahead to put forth your own ideas. If you think (and they believe you) you have better game than she does then go for it, put yourself out there.

I agree with @pdworkin to make no complaints about what has happened in the past. Be strong, be clear, be decisive about your own work and your future plans workwise. Talk to your boss about being included in all discussions about your work and your area of expertise. But no complaining or whining.

I know what you’re going through! Been seeing a similar situation in my work-place recently.
I think @pdworkin is on to something and if you could suggest that the challenges aren’t so much in the distribution of resources, but rather in ensuring communication reaches all involved parties in time to plan and action as appropriate – in fact, picking one of these bright ideas and running with it, might be a good way to show it isn’t bandwidth, it’s timely communication that’s the issue.

That would be for your supervisor – for this idea generator, try a friendly discussion to highlight that you would like to be more supportive and involved, but you need to know about it…...before it’s announced in large staff meetings.

My initial reaction was to suggest you speak up about this individual, but in thinking about it longer, like it or not, this person is just taking initiative to advance themselves at your company. At least, it appears that way to your superiors at work. The unfortunate problem is that you are the key to this person’s project proposals and their suggestions directly affect your work.

In my opinion, if you complain or comment about what has already occurred, it may come across as petty, or be construed as you being inflexible and not able to look at a bigger picture (if the projects she is proposing have a larger scope). I would move on, personally, and just tell your supervisor that you would like to be involved more in meetings and discussions so that you can advise and help support, since the projects depend on your expertise. Hopefully that will not come across as you wanting to be apprised of everything that concerns your job, but more that you want to contribute more to the company’s vision.

Thanks everyone – hearing so many different perspectives is helpful. I’ve never really had to deal with these office politics (and have no interest in office politics) so I find it difficult to know what to do in a tactful way.

My issue has never been that this person’s ideas aren’t good and that I think I can propose better ideas. In fact, I don’t have time to propose new ideas because I’m completely swamped by existing projects. I’m open to collaborating with anyone that I work with but my issue is that it is impossible to collaborate when I’m not even made aware these projects are going on. I feel I have a lot of technical expertise to contribute (which would change/shape her ideas) and that is being discounted.

I’m definately going to address this with my supervisor by asking to be included next time (because I think she had a responsibility herself to include me).
When the opportunity arises, I will also mention the same to the “idea generator” in a more casual way – wording it, as you suggested, that I would like to contribute to and support her ideas at an earlier stage.