I’m in a similar situation so I can really relate to what you are going through. At my work, which is much smaller, I am the only one with a degree and the person who did all the design before I got here is one of those rise through the ranks upper middle management types.
He has been here for 15 years or something and works 10+ hours every day and brown noses hard. Whenever I come up with an idea he focuses all his effort on proving me wrong and getting his way. The last product he “designed” failed hard and our company isn’t doing well because of it. I am looking for a new job, but there are no ID jobs in my city and I already moved closer to work which is out of the city. I’m even considering going back to hands on work or trying to start my own business in the next year or two.
All I can suggest is move on. The senior management need to see that this guy is making good people leave and then they might want to get rid of him. Unfortunately, you won’t be there when/if he finally gets the boot. To use a crass metaphor, you’ll be like a soldier dying for the good of your country. I’d like to help my company do well by doing good design research, user studies, prototype building and field testing and DFMEA, but I’m blocked at every stage by this moron.
If anyone knows how to deal with this without quitting I’d really like to know too.