So, your company needs a new director of engineering. It might be because you want to replace a departing manager, who is either leaving the company or getting promoted. Perhaps you are a startup and this is your first step in forming a formal structure of your engineering team. Whatever the reason, the main objective is that you need to hire a director of engineering. When you come to this conclusion, the next question that pops into your head is quite apparent and that is – what is it that a great director of engineering has and where do I start the search?
You will find all your answers in this blog. But first, let’s start with understanding who a director of engineering is.
Who is a director of engineering?
A director of engineering leads the engineering team of your company. The responsibilities may include hiring, managing the tech projects and preparing the budget of the team. They are also called “Head of Engineering” or “VP of Engineering”.
Responsibilities of a director of engineering
An engineering director must have both technical and strategic skills. The strategic aspect lets them hire engineers who are the right fit for the team, set goals to achieve the desired result and prioritize projects to meet deadlines. The technical aspect includes being involved in the planning and development process of projects, analyzing requirements, and establishing timelines. Consequently, before you hire a director of engineering it is important to ensure that they have extensive experience as engineers.
Responsibilities include:
- Reporting to top management
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders
- Establishing best practice engineering methods
- Developing goals and strategies
- Proposing budgets and plans
- Furnishing technical guidance to the team and top management
- Assessing and enforcing ways to improve cost-efficiency
- Relieving and recruiting new staff for the engineering team
Pre-requisite requirements include:
- Minimum 8+ years of experience in management
- A master’s degree in business administration
- A bachelor’s degree in the engineering field
- Up-to-date knowledge of the industry
- Good logic and reasoning skills
- Organizational skills
- Excellent communication skills to instruct and direct team members
Why choose Turing.com to hire a director of engineering?
One of the key ingredients for a project to thrive and grow exponentially is – a qualified and eligible leader, hence it is very important to hire a knowledgeable and ethical director of engineering. Turing.com is one of the leading and thriving companies, which not only assists you in the hiring but goes above and beyond to make sure that you hire the most suited and skilled individuals. The Turing Hire process is custom-tailored for each recruiter’s demands. They do not simply pick and forward the candidates based on their CV.
Turing applies a unique combination of human vetting intermingled with AI systems to bring together top developers who are skilled and eligible. Candidates go through an evaluation that tests and assesses their experience, skill, knowledge & performance. They are also put through an interview round which checks how they respond under stressful circumstances or during a heavy influx of workload.
Turing Company works towards helping you hire individuals who are most suitable for the work not only through their work experience but also through their work ethics and behavior at previous workplaces (To pass, the candidates have to undergo a rigorous vetting process of over 5+ hours). Turing’s hiring process is a perfect amalgamation of efficiency and thoroughness. It mainly includes four steps:
- Work experience assessment
- Tech stack tests (algorithm challenges)
- Live coding challenges
- One on one interviews
Only after clearing these tests and the interview, the candidate is matched with the jobs as per their skills and experience. The test is all-inclusive and does not propagate any sort of biases. Nor is there any way through loopholes or corruption as the whole process is monitored through invigilators and AI together.
Before you make the decision
Before conducting one on one interviews with any potential candidates for the director of engineering job post, you should understand how this person will fit with the team. You can do that by evaluating their skills
1. Technical skills –
A director of engineering must be well versed with the software development processes, from planning to deployment and maintenance. He/she should also apply the best practices of the industry to the project. You should also make sure that the candidate is from a technical background since technical credibility is the foundation to build trust and respect with the team. Another important factor is – he/she should not only be technically sound but also should be able to convey it to other people as well, since he/she will be the single source of communication with the internal and external stakeholders as the face of the project. He/she should be able to make the stakeholders feel that their projects or investments are in the right hand.
2. Soft skills –
When you look for a director of engineering, you should be keen on hiring someone who is skilled at delivering on things and is not afraid to make difficult decisions when the situation arises. He/she should not waver from his decisions to and fro and should be able to navigate the team through the consequences to produce the desired output. He should have enough experience in the field which enables him/her to use his expertise to resolve complex issues with a series of tactical decisions.
Conclusion
For hiring any tech leader, you need to make sure that the potential candidate has the right technical and soft skills that can ensure the smooth sailing and desired outcome from the project. One more crucial aspect to be aware of is income. The average director of engineering salary is $187,104 (Source: Salary.com). Therefore, the company should be ready to invest this much amount in order to hire an individual for this position. As sometimes looking for cheaper options can cost the company way more down the line.