[gerbil249]

I'm guessing you are using vbulletin for work?

Now that I think about it, this could be done easily.

Using ftp, when you promote them to middle management, add their name to admin config file, that way they cannot edit anything on their profile, only others.

This works on all versions for the protection of special users. They cannot edit themselfs, and others cannot edit them unless removed from the config file.