Engineering Director Career Guide: Salary, Skills, and How to Land the Role

An engineering director is responsible for a broad range of duties, most of which have an invaluable influence on the greater organization. Some engineering directors lead multiple teams through the people they manage (i.e., engineering managers). In this capacity, engineering directors set goals for their engineering team that involve meeting certain metrics. They also make sure projects are completed on time by creating and evaluating roadmaps that outline technical strategy, and by helping unblock any obstacles that might get in the way. In this way, engineering directors play a key role in high-level decision-making, productivity, and steering the organization’s technology endeavors in the right direction.

Outside of these duties, engineering directors also work cross-functionally to ensure projects are executed in alignment with the engineering team’s goals and objectives. Although they have deep engineering and technical backgrounds, engineering directors lend their leadership and collaboration skills to guide engineering managers and influence company-wide strategic objectives.

Engineering directors also work with other professionals in specialized roles, like machine learning engineers, data engineers, data scientists, and software engineers. At major companies such as Lockheed Martin, for example, they might lead large-scale defense projects and make sure software engineers’ work meets industry standards.

To become a successful engineering director, it’s important to have both technical expertise in areas like software engineering and effective people management skills. With these attributes, engineering directors can excel as innovative strategists as well as supportive leaders for their team members.

Engineering directors must be confident in their technical strategy knowledge so they can guide their engineering managers through complex projects. This includes:

Because they work closely with other teams, like product marketing and technical program managers, engineering directors must have superb collaboration skills. They need to know how to communicate effectively when translating complex engineering concepts into language that can be understood by non-technical departments. 

Unlike senior managers or senior directors of engineering, engineering directors have greater autonomy and more responsibility to ensure strategic alignment and to allocate resources efficiently. These duties differ from those of a vice president of engineering and other jobs that sit higher in the engineering hierarchy. Vice presidents, for example, are more focused on organizational and business strategy. 

In order to navigate both technical strategy and people management, engineering directors need to be adaptable, committed to continuous improvement and collaboration, and open to mentoring more junior team members like software engineers. As directors, they’re relied upon to drive innovation and inspire teams to achieve both organizational and team-level goals.

The journey to engineering jobs at the director level usually starts with more junior roles like software engineer, and then advancing to become a senior software engineer. After gaining some experience in these roles, an individual might move into a position such as engineering manager or principal software engineer. Then, professionals can progress to senior manager or director jobs, where they’ll have greater responsibility for projects, people, and strategic outcomes. 

The main way to move up the ladder is to gain experience in software development, project management, and program management. Engineering directors are expected to lead complex projects, manage teams across multiple departments, including software engineers and product managers, and demonstrate expertise in both technology and leadership. Professionals can acquire these skills in roles like assistant director or program manager, where they’ll have exposure to decision-making and strategy discussions.

At the most basic level, an aspiring engineering director needs a university degree in a field like engineering, computer science, or a related field. Many directors also hold advanced degrees, like master’s degrees in engineering disciplines or a master’s in business administration (MBA). Professional certifications such as a PMP (Project Management Professional) can be an added advantage for professionals who want to pursue senior leadership jobs like engineering director.

Engineers who hope to move into a director role one day can expect to earn an average annual salary of $194,709.¹ Most engineering directors earn between $141,500 and $253,000, with top earners making up to $254,000 per year.¹ These ranges and averages can vary greatly depending on location, industry, and level of experience.

Compared to similar engineering roles, principal machine learning engineers earn an average annual salary of $160,430, while product managers can earn an average annual salary of $159,405.^2,3 Because engineering director roles require broader skills and leadership responsibilities that directly impact business outcomes, salaries tend to be higher than other managerial positions. As with engineering director salaries, these figures depend on industry and scope. 

On top of base salary, engineering directors can also take advantage of benefits packages, which may include paid time off, performance bonuses, profit sharing, equity or stock options, and healthcare benefits. Demand for these roles is strong in sectors like technology, aerospace, and information technology, highlighting the need for experienced leaders in innovative environments.

The job of an engineering director often involves stakeholder meetings, strategic technology planning, and leadership duties, all in an effort to achieve operational excellence. Because they oversee multiple managers and their teams, engineering directors are responsible for overseeing software engineers’ productivity and deadlines. Before a project, directors must set operational objectives, identify key engineering metrics to meet, and determine obstacles that may arise during execution. These leaders must be skilled at cross-functional collaboration and working across teams like product, marketing, and executive leadership.

Engineering directors typically work beyond the standard 40 hours per week, depending on the project load, deadlines, and meetings that might occur in different time zones. Therefore, these jobs require a flexible and adaptable professional who is passionate about their career. 

Despite the benefits of working as an engineering director, this role also faces daily challenges. These might include coordinating schedules and projects across different teams and possibly even different time zones. They’re also in charge of hiring and retaining top engineering talent, which can be difficult in competitive industries like technology and aerospace. Companies like Lockheed Martin and FAANG firms look for candidates who can meet these challenges and lead the engineering department, and therefore the business, toward success.