Director of Engineering job description

What is a director of engineering?

The director of engineering leads the engineering department of a company; from hiring and training new team members to managing tech projects and preparing the budget of the team.
Alternative job titles are ‘Head of Engineering’ or ‘VP Engineering’.

What does a director of engineering do?

Directors of engineering usually have both a strategic and a technical role inside the company. The strategic aspect includes setting goals for the team, hiring engineers and prioritizing projects. The technical aspect is about getting actively involved in developing new products, identifying requirements and setting timelines.

Before they can get this position, directors of engineering should have extensive experience as engineers, they should have managed complex tech projects and know how to build products and features from scratch.

Director of engineering responsibilities include:

• Managing engineering projects end-to-end
• Coordinating internal teams, including security, IT and developers
• Implementing new systems

Job brief

We are looking for a director of engineering to lead our engineering department and help us build great products. You’ll also manage our infrastructure and ensure all internal systems operate securely and effectively.

To be successful in this role, you should be confident managing our teams while, at the same time, setting goals, budgets and timelines for various projects. We also expect you to be in charge of our integrations with external partners and oversee all software development plans from ideation to execution.

Ultimately, you’ll make sure we use innovative technologies that maximize our productivity and help our company grow.

Responsibilities

• Oversee front-end and back-end development teams and their projects
• Monitor reliability and performance of all internal systems to suggest improvements
• Ensure compliance with security regulations
• Manage software development projects by setting requirements, goals and timelines
• Prepare and manage the engineering department’s budget
• Design strategies for future development projects based on the company’s overall objectives and resources
• Hire engineers and coordinate their training
• Implement innovative technologies
• Coordinate with external stakeholders for new integrations and tools
• Review and update policies relevant to internal systems and equipment

Requirements and skills

• Work experience as a director of engineering or in a similar senior-level position at an engineering department
• Extensive experience with cloud technologies and modern human-computer interfaces
• Hands-on experience in back-end and front-end development
• Good understanding of agile methodologies
• Leadership abilities with a strategic mind
• Excellent project management skills
• BSc/MSc in Engineering, Computer Science or relevant field