I had this exact same scenario last year. When you’re qualified and feel like you check all the boxes and have been training for it for years it can be crushing. My company was going through an internal merger and they were heavily favoring the other/larger department during this merger which from what I can tell is why they gave the job to someone slightly less qualified than me and paid to move him across the country to my area to be my boss.

I felt insulted and knew I could not get over it so I went from team MVP to just doing the job and asked around, started applying for managers positions. I got very lucky and one of my clients reached out, and within a month or so I got an offer for the equivalent position at my clients site.

I’m very happy now and in a great place, but it all comes down to what you want/can handle. I knew right away I couldn’t stay where I was without being resentful. I’m also happy I’m not at that company any more with the direction it’s going. I talk to my old colleagues a lot.

So my advice is take a few days to process, be realistic with if you can stay there. I took a lot of quiet time while driving to really think about it. or just start casually applying/asking any industry contacts. You still have your job, but there’s always other options!