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What is a senior vice president, engineering and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Yi Yang PhD

The senior vice president of engineering sits at the top of a company along with other executives. Their primary duty is to oversee and direct engineering development teams, ensuring that projects are done on time, design requirements are met, and company standards are upheld.

As the second-in-command of the engineering sector of the company, a senior vice president of engineering makes a bulk of the decisions in the development process. They may also recommend improvements to increase efficiency, participate in recruitment activities, and prepare budgets. Aside from that, they report directly to the CEO or president of the department regarding developments, issues, recommendations, and other relevant matters.

To pursue this position, a bachelor's or master's in engineering or business is a good place to start. Then, one would have to climb the corporate ladder, gaining extensive experience and skills until they qualify for this executive role.

Similar to other executives, the average salary of a senior vice president, engineering sits at a very high amount of $195,000 a year, with some even earning as much as $272,000.

What general advice would you give to a senior vice president, engineering?

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 Vice President, EngineeringUS Average
Salary
10.0

Avg. Salary $202,767

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 15.39%

Black or African American 2.94%

Hispanic or Latino 8.27%

Unknown 4.58%

White 68.67%

Gender

female 11.44%

male 88.56%

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 vice president, engineering career paths

Key steps to become a senior vice president, engineering

  1. Explore senior vice president, engineering education requirements

    Most common senior vice president, engineering degrees

    Bachelor's

    64.1 %

    Master's

    23.2 %

    Associate

    7.7 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior vice president, engineering skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Cloud9.82%
    Infrastructure9.58%
    SVP9.14%
    Java7.57%
    R5.44%
  3. Complete relevant senior vice president, engineering training and internships

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

    • Manage the development, QA and DevOps teams.
    • Lead the development of the next generation architecture and infrastructure that's foundation for business and team expansion.
    • Lead development standards, API development, responsive mobile and mobile applications; that provide complete brand visibility.
    • Lead team's participation in overall internal cloud initiative resulting in annual expense reductions in excess of $30MM.
  5. Get senior vice president, engineering experience

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

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior vice president, engineering 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 vice president, engineering 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 vice president, engineering resume templates

    Build a professional senior vice president, engineering 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 vice president, engineering resume.
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    Senior Vice President, Engineering Resume
  7. Apply for senior vice president, engineering jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior vice president, engineering 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 vice president, engineering job

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Average senior vice president, engineering salary

The average senior vice president, engineering salary in the United States is $202,767 per year or $97 per hour. Senior vice president, engineering salaries range between $134,000 and $304,000 per year.

Average senior vice president, engineering salary
$202,767 Yearly
$97.48 hourly

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Senior vice president, engineering reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020
Pros

Being able to solve technical problems and manage staff for work


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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019
Pros

Reviewing


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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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