How to become a Engineering Manager

Becoming a Engineering Manager is an in-demand career path. It requires deep expertise in Engineering Management and a strong network to carry you along. Here are some resources to help you on your journey.

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Why should you become a 
Engineering Manager?

Engineering Manager

Demand for experts in Engineering Management is growing rapidly. Companies are looking for people with deep expertise in the field of Engineering Management to help them build their products and services.

As a result, Engineering Managers are in high demand and command high salaries. According to leading sources, the median salary for a Engineering Manager is $170,000 and a senior Engineering Manager can earn up to $200,000. Even entry-level positions can command great salaries.

No wonder that interest in a career in Engineering Management is growing rapidly. Explore the resources below to learn more about how to become a Engineering Manager.

Best books to build Engineering Management understanding.

A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build deeper understanding and also act as a handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.

These are our and our experts top picks to get started building career-relevant skills.

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs

Software startups make global headlines every day. As technology companies succeed and grow, so do their engineering departments. In your career, you'll may suddenly get the opportunity to lead teams: to become a manager. But this is often uncharted territory. How can you decide whether this career move is right for you? And if you do, what do you need to learn to succeed? Where do you start? How do you know that you're doing it right? What does "it" even mean? And isn't management a dirty word? This book will share the secrets you need to know to manage engineers successfully.

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

Will Larson's An Elegant Puzzle orients around the particular challenges of engineering management--from sizing teams to technical debt to succession planning--and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Will Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management that leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes can apply. An Elegant Puzzle balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.

97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts

97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts

Managing people is hard, and the industry as a whole is bad at it. Many managers lack the experience, training, tools, texts, and frameworks to do it well. From mentoring interns to working in senior management, this book will take you through the stages of management and provide actionable advice on how to approach the obstacles you’ll encounter as a technical manager.

System Engineering Management

System Engineering Management

Using a "total systems management" approach, this book covers everything from initial establishment to system retirement, including design and development, testing, production, operations, maintenance, and support. This new edition has been fully updated to reflect the latest tools and best practices, and includes rich discussion on computer-based modeling and hardware and software systems integration.

Engineering Management

Engineering Management

This book is intended to serve as textbook for enginerring and managemant courses. It seeks to develop an understanding of the basic managemant concepts required in different engieering disciplines, Meets the specific requirements of students pursuing B.Tech/M.Tech courses, MBA, Post graduate Diploma in Managemant / Engineering Managemant

Engineering Management for the rest of us

Engineering Management for the rest of us

There’s a lot to be purposeful about that many of us learn on the job, and worse: learn on people. This book provides some organization for collaborating with networks of people, working together towards a common purpose.

Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track

Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track

What are the skills you need to develop to reach Staff Engineer? Are technical abilities alone sufficient to reach and succeed in that role? How do most folks reach this role? What is your manager’s role in helping you along the way? Will you enjoy being a Staff Engineer or will you toil for years to achieve a role that doesn’t suit you? Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track is a pragmatic look at attaining and operating in Staff engineering roles, building on the lived experience of folks who've walked before you.

Engineering Management in a Global Environment: Guidelines and Procedures

Engineering Management in a Global Environment: Guidelines and Procedures

Engineering Management in a Global Environment: Guidelines and Procedures provides guidelines for changing roles of engineering managers in the international arena. The book covers global, multidisciplinary, and flat engineering organizations. Recommended procedures for hiring, mentoring, work assignments, and meetings in the global arena are detailed. Guidelines for keeping up with technology and with the changing world, performance reviews, layoffs, necessary engineering tools, and work atmosphere are discussed. Procedures for engineering team building and for having good relationships with upper management, customers, subcontractors, and regulatory agencies are provided.

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Courses to deepen your Engineering Management skills.

These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are usually accompanied by projects and a learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.

Our experts recommend these courses, from free selections to paid programs.

Engineering Management Interview Course

Engineering Management Interview Course

Learn to ace the engineering management interview process from start to finish with practical examples and strategies from top managers. Covers management skills, project presentations, and system design.

Your First 90 Days as a new Engineering Manager

Your First 90 Days as a new Engineering Manager

So you got the job of a data or software engineering manager - what do you do and where do you start? Most companies don't have training programs for managers, or for people who want to move into management. This course will help put you on the right path - we outline what to do for your first 90 days as an engineering manager. We will walk you through the most important parts of your role you should focus on, and how you should get started.

Technology and Engineering Management Graduate Program

Technology and Engineering Management Graduate Program

The Technology and Engineering Management Graduate Program provides the breadth of skillsets required for management in those sectors. Building on existing work experience, this program teaches financial analysis, establishing a strategic direction, and building dynamic, cohesive teams. You will develop comprehensive managerial expertise as well as learn how to optimize it for your industry. You will master the principles of financial reporting and investments, learn a theoretical framework for evaluating and making decisions, and apply entrepreneurial strategy to successfully develop, promote and lead your business. Benefits from this can be achieved across a range of operational areas and enhance shareholder value.

SAE course: Engineering Management Academy ACAD09

SAE course: Engineering Management Academy ACAD09

As we gain experience and grow in our professional careers, we each develop our own communication style, and we tend to operate within that style with great comfort. However, in higher leadership roles, we must recognize that we need to raise our communication effectiveness in many more situations and with a much wider variety of people. In this section, you will learn skills that will allow you to communicate effectively with direct reports, co-workers, management and suppliers. Successful completion of technical projects, engineering research and analysis is only a fraction of an engineering manager\'s job. An equally important portion involves communicating the results of these technical projects effectively to gain acceptance for the next stage of implementation. Effective communications, both written and verbal are paramount to our success.

Engineering Project Management: Mastering Project Complexity

Engineering Project Management: Mastering Project Complexity

In this program, you will learn the project management skills you need to successfully manage engineering projects. First you will focus on the early project phases, which are crucial to achieve project success. The areas covered include the project manager and the team, the project process and the project context. At the end of this part of the program you will have created your own project execution plan

Engineering Management MSc

Engineering Management MSc

The online Engineering Management MSc will equip you with practical and theoretical knowledge of modern engineering, alongside a grounding in management. Offering much more than a generic MBA, the course has been designed by engineers, for engineers. It aims to meet the needs of a changing engineering environment and expand your engineering management career options. There has never been a more crucial time for businesses to have technically competent managers, and our specialised curriculum brings a modern, technology-focused perspective to tried and tested management strategies. Specialist modules like: Business Strategy for Engineers, Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, and Decision Making for Engineering Managers are aligned with market needs to help you learn high-demand skills and enhance your engineering management career opportunities.

Get the guidance you need to become a Engineering Manager

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

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Join me on a whirlwind journey through my professional life, filled with geeky beginnings, unforeseen challenges, and the transformative power of coaching. From my first foray into the world of computers at the age of 12, to navigating the primitive landscapes of green-screen monitors and clunky processors, my passion for …

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Hi, I'm Ankita! 👋🏽 I'm passionate about teaching front-end technologies and growing people in their careers. I have over 10 years of experience in the tech industry, starting with helping small businesses develop apps. I transitioned from a Senior Developer to a Solution Architect, aka Staff Developer and then decided …

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Hi there! 👋 I'm an Engineering Manager at Meta / Facebook with over 12 years of experience both as a Tech Lead and Engineering Manager at big tech companies as well as startups. For me, seeing others succeed and grow is the ultimate satisfaction. I have always believed that when …

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When I started my career I had lots of questions, sometimes I was confused about which direction to take, and which skills to pick up. After a while, I found someone who gave me direction and goals, who saw the future of my career and helped me reach my goals …

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Vikas is an accomplished engineering leader with 20+ years of experience, he has a proven track record of success in multiple leadership roles across startups and large organizations (Facebook, Amazon, Mastercard). Throughout his career, Vikas developed a deep understanding of the technical aspects of engineering, coupled with strong business acumen …

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Tips from the Engineering Management blog

Learn more about Engineering Management with our expert advice.

Engineering Manager vs. Technology Leadership

Engineering Managers and Technology Leaders both require a strong technical foundation, but they diverge in their focus – one excels in operational efficiency and team coordination, while the other drives strategic innovation and business alignment. Let's explore the differences.

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