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What is a senior engineering team leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Yi Yang PhD
The average senior engineering team leader salary is $121,139. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an electrical engineering major. It usually takes more than 10 years of experience to become a senior engineering team leader. Senior engineering team leaders with a Software Engineering Master Certification (SEMC) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 4,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior engineering team leader?

Yi Yang PhDYi Yang PhD LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University - Abington

For new graduates beginning their careers in engineering, I would advise them to consider the broader impact of their work and look for opportunities to expand their management potential. While engineering is a highly technical field, it's important to recognize the value of leadership roles in preserving a culture of innovation. By taking on these positions, you can help ensure that companies prioritize long-term innovation over short-term gains (cutting R&D to boost the balance sheet), thus preserving the engineering culture that drives meaningful progress.
ScoreSenior Engineering Team LeaderUS Average
Salary
8.2

Avg. Salary $121,139

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
1.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 17.33%

Black or African American 2.83%

Hispanic or Latino 7.88%

Unknown 4.52%

White 67.28%

Gender

female 11.51%

male 88.49%

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

Senior engineering team leader career paths

Key steps to become a senior engineering team leader

  1. Explore senior engineering team leader education requirements

    Most common senior engineering team leader degrees

    Bachelor's

    67.4 %

    Master's

    18.1 %

    Associate

    10.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior engineering team leader skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Project Management11.22%
    C++10.77%
    Java9.95%
    UI9.72%
    SR8.10%
  3. Complete relevant senior engineering team leader training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior engineering team leaders 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 senior engineering team leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior engineering team leader resumes.
  4. Research senior engineering team leader duties and responsibilities

    • Design and develop automation framework using python and perforce API to automate daily integration work.
    • Provide senior management skills and technical leadership in support of spacecraft development programs for DoD and NASA customers.
    • Design FW to verify HW, HW debugging.
    • Migrate the servers distribute globally to linux VMs in stages.
  5. Get senior engineering team leader experience

    Generally, it takes more than 10 years to become a senior engineering team leader. The most common roles before becoming a senior engineering team leader include senior engineer, senior systems engineer team lead and design engineer.
  6. Prepare your senior engineering team leader resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior engineering team leader 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 senior engineering team leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable senior engineering team leader resume templates

    Build a professional senior engineering team leader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior engineering team leader resume.
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
    Senior Engineering Team Leader Resume
  7. Apply for senior engineering team leader jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior engineering team leader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior engineering team leader job

Zippi

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Average senior engineering team leader salary

The average senior engineering team leader salary in the United States is $121,139 per year or $58 per hour. Senior engineering team leader salaries range between $89,000 and $164,000 per year.

Average senior engineering team leader salary
$121,139 Yearly
$58.24 hourly

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Senior engineering team leader reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020
Cons

Not to be listened by the employees


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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