How To Become A Field Engineering Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a field engineering manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

A field engineering manager acts as the leader of a construction team. Their chief duty is to oversee all work activities and ensure that the project goes according to plan with no inadequacies, mistakes, or time delays. A big part of their role is to also ensure the safety and wellbeing of all personnel by complying with federal and local safety standards.

When you take a closer look at their job responsibilities, you'll find that a field engineering manager also develops optimal work strategies, conducts inspections on work done, communicates with other project managers, and updates clients on the progress of the job.

To become a field engineering manager, an applicant needs to have a degree in a relevant field of engineering. Many employers set a bachelor's degree as the minimum qualification, but having a master's degree can increase the chances of job placement. Moreover, a field engineering manager must have outstanding skills in leadership, time management, and problem-solving to excel at this job.

On average, a field engineering manager takes home about $101,000 a year, with the potential of earning as much as $129,000 or more.

What general advice would you give to a field engineering manager?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreField Engineering ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.9

Avg. Salary $112,949

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 11.74%

Black or African American 3.11%

Hispanic or Latino 8.91%

Unknown 4.68%

White 71.39%

Gender

female 4.99%

male 95.01%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a field engineering manager

Explore field engineering manager education requirements

Most common field engineering manager degrees

Bachelor's

67.6 %

Associate

17.9 %

Master's

9.9 %

Start to develop specific field engineering manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	16.92%
Technical Support	12.37%
Troubleshoot	5.77%
Pre Sales	4.00%
Post Sales	3.92%

Complete relevant field engineering manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New field engineering managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a field engineering manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real field engineering manager resumes.

Research field engineering manager duties and responsibilities

Manage QA for research orient development efforts and for high visibility, production focuse development efforts tie to revenue generation.
Post RFI's onto record set.
Work seamlessly with RF teams to resolve coverage issues.
Perform retunes on various markets via the RF teams request.

Prepare your field engineering manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your field engineering manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a field engineering manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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