How to hire a vice president of operations and engineering

How to hire a vice president of operations and engineering, step by step

Here's a step-by-step vice president of operations and engineering hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a vice president of operations and engineering job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new vice president of operations and engineering
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The vice president of operations and engineering hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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   Hiring the perfect vice president of operations and engineering also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of vice presidents of operations and engineering.

   Type of Vice President Of Operations And Engineering	Description	Hourly rate
   Vice President Of Operations And Engineering	Architectural and engineering managers plan, direct, and coordinate activities in architectural and engineering companies.	$57-118
   Director Of Software Development	A director of software development is primarily in charge of overseeing the workflow and the workforce involved in the entire software development process. Their responsibilities also include creating strategies for optimal performance, coordinating with different teams and departments to identify strengths and weaknesses, implementing training and workshop programs, and liaising with external agencies, including key clients... Show more	$52-109
   Director Of Product Development	A Director of Product Development supervises and implements product development policies, initiatives, and objectives. They conduct market research to determine consumer needs and identify competitors.	$48-94

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • R
   • Product Development
   • On-Time Delivery
   • Java
   • Engineering Operations
   • Strategic Plan
   • ISO
   • Infrastructure
   • Software Development
   • RF
   • AWS
   • Product Line
   • Vendor Management
   • Logistics

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage computer security framework to ensure organization is compliant with office of human rights regarding HIPAA privacy security controls.
   • Implement ISO standards, ISO13485, ITAR regulations, etc.
   • Jumpstart launch of automate QA testing for key product functionality.
   • Lead and build an international engineering, QA and operations organization in a 24x7 environment.
   • Develop training a trainer programs for employees and supervisors on ISO, FDA and OSHA regulations.
   • Create sustainable resourcing budgeting model that allocates and protects investment for innovation and future architecture while right-sizing maintenance and feature work.

   More vice president of operations and engineering duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your vice president of operations and engineering job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A vice president of operations and engineering salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, vice presidents of operations and engineering' average salary in south carolina is 39% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level vice presidents of operations and engineering earn 51% less than senior-level vice presidents of operations and engineering.
   • Certifications. A vice president of operations and engineering with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a vice president of operations and engineering's salary.

   Average vice president of operations and engineering salary

   $172,316yearly

   $82.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level vice president of operations and engineering salary

   $120,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average vice president of operations and engineering salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$219,227	$105
   2	California	$186,302	$90
   3	Texas	$180,938	$87
   4	Connecticut	$180,263	$87
   5	Virginia	$174,141	$84
   6	New York	$158,264	$76
   7	Pennsylvania	$153,610	$74
   8	Florida	$140,313	$67
   9	Colorado	$131,988	$63
   10	Iowa	$128,375	$62
   11	Illinois	$127,213	$61

   Average vice president of operations and engineering salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Citi	$179,548	$86.32	205
   2	Ascend Wellness	$167,426	$80.49
   3	Ancera	$167,327	$80.45
   4	Trilogy International Partners	$166,598	$80.10
   5	WoodCrafters	$158,673	$76.29

4. Writing a vice president of operations and engineering job description

   A job description for a vice president of operations and engineering role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a vice president of operations and engineering job description:

   Vice president of operations and engineering job description example

   Universal Orlando Resort believes in-person collaboration is key to our success. Many of our Team Members work in a hybrid capacity, contributing from the workplace a minimum of three days per week. Some remote opportunities are available within specific departments. There are also roles that require being on-site full time. You'll learn more about this during the application process.
   
   JOB SUMMARY: The Vice President, Data/AI Solution Engineering & Operations is a key technology strategy, engineering, and leadership role responsible for data & AI solutions engineering & operations, data integration, and big data architecture at Universal Parks & Resorts. This individual leads a team of talented technologists & partners to design, develop, deploy, and support a wide range of data/AI applications that enable digital insights, martech, customer data profile & identity graph/resolution solutions, Snowflake, mParticle, various marketing analytics tools; leads a delivery service center focused on data engineering & architecture, integrating AI technology into empower digital guest experiences, quality assurance for data solutions; and serves as platform owner of full-stack data tools leveraged for digital, guest experience, and other supporting technology.
   
   This role is responsible for stewarding the data governance committee to ensure proper usage of first party & tertiary data, serves as a key expert in end-to-end data/AI solution design globally, and contributes to UPR's future metaverse technology solution. This role partners closely within Digital Technology, Corporate Technology/Infrastructure/Security, Digital Product/Innovation, PMO; business divisions; functional support partners like Finance, Sourcing, and HR.
   
   This leadership position is focused on innovation, design and development of new digital experiences based on existing physical theme park experiences and launching new businesses in both physical and virtual spaces.
   MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
   
   Technology Strategy & Delivery
   
   + Formulate and implement strategic plan for global data solution & AI technical strategy, architecture, design, development for UPR Digital and Technology
   
   + Drive simple, scalable, flexible, secure, and cost-effective technology design & engineering
   
   + Leads both the build and run development teams for data solutions like Martech, CDP, ID graph, Snowflake, mParticle, etc; and new AI capabilities as a service to drive digital acceleration
   
   + Oversee partnership of internal resources and external partners to achieve both best in class technology solutions while achieving speed to market.
   
   + Acts as key subject matter expert in the data, AI, and ethical usage of such technologies, well-versed on software engineering, CI/CD & architecture, data & cloud architecture
   
   + Establish overall plan for high quality automation of processes, devops, quality engineering and management release, cloud into every-day work
   
   Platform Stability & Operational/Delivery Excellence
   
   + Establish and oversee application strategy to achieve consistent, high-level platform reliability and uptime of newly developed digital technology solutions to ensure superior "Digital Show Quality" for Universal's digital solutions
   
   + Drive focus on operational excellence throughout the organization & partners, including (but not limited to) processes, governance, efficient working approaches, collaboration
   
   + Lead team to ensure positive trend in key performance indicators of the digital platform
   
   + Partner with PMO & Product for on-time delivery of solutions, proactively mitigate risk of "scope creep" and business impact during transformational change
   
   Cross-Team Collaboration, Team Culture, Staff Development
   
   + Drive cross-team collaboration in alignment with UPR digital transformation
   
   + Provides clear executive decision-making and priority management
   
   + Promote working culture of accountability and technology depth to support Universal's physical and virtual business aspirations
   
   + Drive Universal Culture of team-member satisfaction through effective communication, planning, risk management, and coaching of high-potential candidates at every level of the organization
   
   + Work seamlessly with other Digital and Technology & business unit leaders to architect and build best in class solutions and experiences.
   
   Budget Ownership
   
   + Manage appropriate departmental budgets; review/approve related budget expenditures with "act as an owner" mentality.
   
   + Understands and actively participates in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UO policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities.
   
   + Performs other duties as assigned.
   
   EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree required. Advanced degree in math, engineering, technology, data analytics or related fields preferred.
   
   EXPERIENCE: 12 + years in progressive data/AI engineering or architecture:
   
   + 12+ years' experience in data engineering, analytics, big data/data lake technologies, advanced BI/reporting; experience with cloud/hybrid cloud ecosystems
   
   + 10+ years' experience in martech & customer analytics/profiling solutions
   
   + 8+ years' experience developing data science or AI solutions, deploying data science platforms; tourism/entertainment or consumer facing industries preferred
   
   + Experience in large scale technology implementations & program planning
   
   + Demonstrated experience developing data solutions in "bi-modal" technology environments that combine digital/agile with enterprise/monolithic applications
   
   + Experience in executive communication, business-focused data story-telling, relationship building and decision making; expert at stakeholder and partner management
   
   ; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
   
   Your talent, skills and experience will be rewarded with a competitive compensation package.
   
   Universal is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Universal Orlando via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from Universal Orlando HR/Recruitment will be deemed the sole property of Universal Orlando. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Universal Orlando as a result of the referral or through other means.
   
   Universal Orlando Resort. Here you can.
   
   Universal Orlando is an equal opportunity employer. Universal elements and all related indicia TM & © 2022 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. EOE

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5. Post your job

   To find the right vice president of operations and engineering for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with vice presidents of operations and engineering they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit vice presidents of operations and engineering who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your vice president of operations and engineering job on Zippia to find and recruit vice president of operations and engineering candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with vice president of operations and engineering candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new vice president of operations and engineering

   Once you've decided on a perfect vice president of operations and engineering candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new vice president of operations and engineering. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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