Engineering directors are tasked with running all the engineering activities and projects within an organization. They ensure their alignment with the set policies and objectives of the organization. They consult the management, production, and marketing staff to define the requirements and procedures for a project. Similarly, they examine the technology, organizational resources, and market demand to devise procedures for the project. Besides that, they monitor work schedules and cash flows, including working with different teams. Also, they oversee the installation, testing, operation, maintenance, and repair of facilities and equipment.
To become an engineering director, you need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related discipline. You need eight or more years of relevant work experience. You must possess communication, critical thinking, analytical, and organization skills. These directors earn $193,118 on average annually. Their salary is between $143,000 and $261,000.
How to Become an Engineering Director
What is an Engineering Director
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an Engineering Director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $87.26 an hour? That's $181,505 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 5,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Engineering Director Do
There are certain skills that many Engineering Directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Analytical skills, Communication skills and Detail oriented.
How To Become an Engineering Director
If you're interested in becoming an Engineering Director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.6% of Engineering Directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.6% of Engineering Directors have master's degrees. Even though most Engineering Directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an Engineering Director. When we researched the most common majors for an Engineering Director, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Engineering Director resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an Engineering Director. In fact, many Engineering Director jobs require experience in a role such as Engineering Manager. Meanwhile, many Engineering Directors also have previous career experience in roles such as Chief Engineer or Project Manager.
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Engineering Director Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Vice President Of Engineering you might progress to a role such as Vice President Of Engineering eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Vice President Of Engineering.
Engineering Director Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for an Engineering Director
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12 Engineering Director Resume Examples
Build a professional engineering director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your engineering director resume.
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Diane Hudson Engineering Director |
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Logan Wilson Engineering Director Experience Engineering Director2013 - Present IBM•Parkton, NC
Principal2008 - 2013 Bank of America•Charlotte, NC
Construction Manager2003 - 2008 Toll Brothers•Rockville, MD
Field Engineering Manager1993 - 2003 Lockheed Martin•Rockville, MD
Skills VFDConstruction SupervisionOshaService EngineeringConstruction ActivitiesHigh QualityData CentersEngineering SupportProject ManagementProduction Company Education Master's Degree Mechanical Engineering1984 - 1985 New Jersey Institute of Technology•Newark, NJ Bachelor's Degree Mechanical Engineering1973 - 1976 Pennsylvania State University•Main, PA |
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Learn How To Write an Engineering Director Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Engineering Director resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Engineering Director Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Engineering Director Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Engineering Director templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Engineering Director resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Find the best Engineering Director job for you
Engineering Director Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Engineering Director Jobs - $251K and Up
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- Actively Hiring
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Top Colleges for Engineering Directors
1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
6. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
7. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
8. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
9. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
10. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA • Private
Find the best Engineering Director job for you
Engineering Director Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Engineering Director Jobs - $251K and Up
- Work From Home Engineering Director Jobs
- Entry Level Engineering Director Jobs
- Part Time Engineering Director Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Engineering Director Jobs
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Top Skills For an Engineering Director
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 6.9% of Engineering Directors listed Architecture on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Communication skills are important as well.
Best States For an Engineering Director
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an Engineering Director. The best states for people in this position are California, Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon. Engineering Directors make the most in California with an average salary of $206,223. Whereas in Hawaii and Washington, they would average $198,521 and $188,160, respectively. While Engineering Directors would only make an average of $185,904 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Louisiana
$177,503
Avg. Salary
2. Oregon
$185,904
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$188,160
Avg. Salary
How Do Engineering Director Rate Their Jobs?
Top Engineering Director Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Engineering Directors and discovered their number of Engineering Director opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Salesforce was the best, especially with an average salary of $153,611. Cisco Systems follows up with an average salary of $224,411, and then comes American Express with an average of $167,932. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as an Engineering Director. The employers include Salesforce, VMware, and The Home Depot
Engineering Director Videos
Becoming an Engineering Director FAQs
How much do engineering directors make at Google?
Engineering directors at Google make around $300,000 annually. The typical salary range for an engineering director is around $200,000 to $350,000 in a year, but salaries can go up to almost $500,000 for a highly qualified engineering director at Google.
However, what an engineering director is paid at Google depends on several factors that can significantly impact the salary. Some of these factors include the level of experience, organizational structure, and education.
At Google, highly experienced engineering directors should expect to earn closer to $350,000 to $400,000 in a year, while a less experienced engineering director should anticipate a lower salary that might range from $200,000 to $250,000 a year.
Additionally, education also impacts salary. While anyone can work hard and gain good experience and try to move into the role of engineering director at Google, the most qualified (and therefore highest paid) candidates would possess a master's degree in their field.
Salary is also impacted by organizational structure. Salary depends largely on the size and complexity of the organization an engineering director works for. Since Google is a large and complex company, the level of a director is higher within Google, which means that it is harder to achieve, and the person who is qualified will be paid accordingly.
Additionally, industry also impacts salary expectations. Engineering directors at Google work in the tech industry, which has some of the highest salaries for engineering directors. This means they should expect to be well compensated for their work.
What makes a great director of engineering?
The traits that make a great director of engineering are that someone is both strategic, analytical, and innovative. They are able to break down and translate complicated sets of data just as easily as they are able to lead a team of engineers, and they are willing to try new processes while respecting established standards.
Great directors of engineering know how to clearly communicate engineering objectives and tasks to their team members. They explain the overall importance of objectives and the ultimate purpose of a given task. They know their teams' strengths and weaknesses, and they set appropriate expectations that are realistic but challenging.
Additionally, the best directors of engineering are able to cultivate relationships with the members of their teams, learning their capabilities and how best to bring out their strengths. A good director will take the time to find out what drives their team members and will put that knowledge to good use in encouraging better performance.
A director of engineering's ultimate job is to help ensure the success of the business. Companies want to minimize costs while maximizing results. Teams working on projects, however, require resources to complete their objectives.
A good engineering director understands both the strategic and business goals of the company and how to maintain the balance between them.
For a company's engineering department to excel, it needs a great engineering director. Good engineering directors, like all good engineers, want to solve problems. Through their roles as directors, they provide the environment, resources, and high-level views necessary for great work.
Who is above the director of engineering?
The vice president of engineering is the role above the director of engineering. The director of the engineering role is typically where a person first starts to manage managers; where a vice president of engineering is where a person starts to manage the company as a whole.
The main hierarchical difference between these roles is that a director of engineering is thinking operationally. They coordinate and execute multiple efforts within a larger strategic goal. Typically they have more control over the "how," but the "why" has already been decided for them.
Meanwhile, the vice president of engineering is thinking strategically. In our level definition, VPs are strategic. They help define the why and what an organization will achieve.
Thinking of the VP of engineering as a progression from the director, the VP spends their time thinking about "what" and "why" rather than "how," while the directors of engineering may be spending their time operationally on how to build and maintain a significant piece of application real estate.
Both roles are part of the discussion around company and department strategy since it affects the direction of their organization, but the VP is ultimately responsible for the decision that is made.
Typically a director of engineering will report to the VP of engineering, while the VP of engineering will report to the chief technology officer (CTO).