What does an Engineering Director do?
An engineering director or director of engineering is an individual who manages a team of engineering managers and coordinates all the engineering activities within the organization. Engineering directors work closely with the organization's executives to develop new strategies to reduce unnecessary costs and time to complete their projects. They must understand and interpret complex sets of data such as profits, losses, or value of liabilities to identify problems and come up with solutions. Engineering directors must also ensure that safety protocols are implemented in the workforce.
Engineering director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real engineering director resumes:
- Monitor and manage performance base on multiple KPI's.
- Manage all FCC filings for the registration of license frequencies.
- Improve network reliability and manage signal leakage and FCC compliance.
- Lead implementation and remediation efforts to ensure HIPPA, SOX, and PCI compliance.
- Manage a team to develop and support SaaS base access control product for health care industry.
- Manage release and deployments for multiple, concurrent Java project across varying release cycles from inception to delivery.
- Resolve legacy SAML authentication issue for high profile client JAVA, JavaScript, AngularJS.
- Reduce the friction tremendously among sales, product management, engineering development, and DevOps teams.
- Provide detail product and infrastructure relate information to prospects regarding security and other technical aspects of the solution specific to SaaS.
- Implement a cloud base issue tracking system to facilitate cross-functional communication and tracking of manufacturing, engineering and customer service issues.
- Serve as a strategic agent for change driving adoption of agile, DevOps and cloud-base development practices.
- Cross company effort to fundamentally change the way Polycom sells infrastructure software enabling selling from CapEx to OpEx.
- Implement changes to cad software, drawing format and design procedures to increase productivity and quality of engineering output.
- Scale agile across 18 teams of 100+ product managers, UX designers, scrum masters, developers, and testers.
- Produce a 7x24 co-host open source server platform, using Linux, J2EE, and SQL, at minimal cost.
Engineering director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Engineering Directors are proficient in Java, Architecture, and Infrastructure. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Engineering Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Java, 7%
Worked on a web based interface for Triad, the company's core product, using Java and GWT.
- Architecture, 7%
Delivered measurable and consumer perceivable product improvements in competitive areas of noise and vibration, product architecture, and power/thermal performance.
- Infrastructure, 6%
Determined the current and future enterprise infrastructure which oversaw the design and implementation of information systems that support the business requirements.
- AWS, 5%
Developed technologies and leveraged products featuring embedded systems, Linux kernel, user space, Windows applications and AWS clouds.
- Project Management, 5%
Develop new business through creative marketing and strengthening relationships with new and existing customers through relentless customer service and project management.
- Customer Service, 4%
Managed material and product rationalization programs aimed at portfolio consolidation and improved customer service and satisfaction.
Common skills that an engineering director uses to do their job include "java," "architecture," and "infrastructure." You can find details on the most important engineering director responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for an engineering director to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what engineering directors do because "architectural and engineering managers evaluate information to solve problems." Additionally, an engineering director resume shows how engineering directors use analytical skills: "analyzed, designed and implemented java based applications for nms/ems systems based on fcaps standards. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling engineering director duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "architectural and engineering managers must effectively convey information and expectations related to projects." According to an engineering director resume, here's how engineering directors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "develop emergency wireless communications infrastructure used by police, fire, and the military. "
Math skills. A big part of what engineering directors do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to engineering director responsibilities because "architectural and engineering managers use calculus and other mathematics to develop new products and processes." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical engineering director tasks: "proposed and got initial funding for new programmable geometry engine chip based on ip licensed from ibm. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for an engineering director to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what engineering directors relies on this skill, since "architectural and engineering managers keep track of many workers, schedules, and budgets simultaneously." How this skill relates to engineering director duties can be seen in an example from an engineering director resume snippet: "guided share-holder team on infrastructure and organizational planning, programming, developing, and financing. "
The three companies that hire the most engineering directors are:
- Capital One521 engineering directors jobs
- American Express179 engineering directors jobs
- Pwc126 engineering directors jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable engineering director resume templates
Build a professional engineering director resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your engineering director resume.
Compare different engineering directors
Engineering director vs. Research and development manager
A research and development manager is responsible for supervising project development procedures to support business operations and identify business opportunities that would pave the way for more revenue resources and profits. Research and development managers monitor the production plans from the conceptualization to the final outputs, inspecting inconsistencies and flaws in every phase and revising strategies as needed to achieve the required specifications and requirements. They delegate tasks to the staff, oversee progress, and conduct research and development programs to maximize productivity and team efforts.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an engineering director are more likely to require skills like "architecture," "infrastructure," "aws," and "software development." On the other hand, a job as a research and development manager requires skills like "patients," "visualization," "client facing," and "rd." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Research and development managers really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $143,083. Comparatively, engineering directors tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $164,120.The education levels that research and development managers earn slightly differ from engineering directors. In particular, research and development managers are 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an engineering director. Additionally, they're 4.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Engineering director vs. Vice president product development
A vice president for product development is responsible for leading the product development team in the execution of development activities to enhance the product's brand image in the market and achieve the sales performance target. Vice presidents for product development monitor the product development techniques from the conceptualization to the final execution and market release. They also handle the budget and resource allocation to support product development operations, ensuring that the outputs meet the quality standards and timetables.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, engineering director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "java," "infrastructure," "aws," and "customer service." Meanwhile, a vice president product development has duties that require skills in areas such as "analytics," "product strategy," "product roadmap," and "product portfolio." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, vice presidents product development earn a higher salary than engineering directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, vice presidents product development earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $164,622. Whereas engineering directors have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $164,120.In general, vice presidents product development achieve similar levels of education than engineering directors. They're 0.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 4.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Engineering director vs. Design manager
A design manager is responsible for creating graphic and digital designs, following clients' specifications, and managing project deliverables efficiently. Design managers work closely with the marketing and public relations department, developing strategies to promote the brand to the target audience. They coordinate with the creative team and present the design ideas to the management, ask for final approval, perform revisions as needed, and follow the budget goals. A design manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the design team's concerns and needs.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an engineering director is likely to be skilled in "java," "architecture," "infrastructure," and "aws," while a typical design manager is skilled in "sketch," "visualization," "user experience," and "powerpoint."
Design managers earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $121,279. Engineering directors earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $164,120.design managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to engineering directors. Specifically, they're 9.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Engineering director vs. Research and development director
A research and development director spearheads and oversees the research and development initiatives and projects in a company. It is their duty to set goals and guidelines, establish timelines and budgets, direct and manage different departments, liaise with internal and external parties, gather and analyze data to implement solutions against problem areas, and utilize expertise in developing strategies to optimize company operations. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while promoting the company's policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.
Types of engineering director
Updated January 8, 2025
