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Leading others in a company, or even in a team, calls for knowledge, awareness, and a set of “soft” skills that can bring huge returns. This course is an introduction to leading — understanding, supporting, motivating, and guiding — technical employees. Class members will have an understanding of culture and leadership models as key differentiators for successful entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.
Estimates put the salary range of a VP of engineering between $212,240 and $322,503 a year, with total pay allowing for the inclusion of cash bonuses, commissions, profit sharing and stock options.
The VP of engineering is responsible for providing technical leadership for an organization’s engineering department. Their responsibilities can include:
You don’t need an MBA to be a VP of engineering, but many companies will prefer that job candidates have an advanced degree of some relevance — either an MBA, an MS in engineering management or in a specific engineering field such as computer science, mechanical or electrical engineering.
The required amount of education and experience will vary by positions, but expect most to require a minimum of 10 years in managing teams and that you have earned at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field.
Most VPs of engineering will work their way up to the position. You’ll want to start building tenure as an engineering manager or director of engineering to build your experience and institutional knowledge. One possible way to fast-track your advancement is to be the first engineering manager at a start-up.
Though they have some overlapping responsibilities, the tech lead and engineering manager roles have their own distinct set of responsibilities and focus. Tech leads are hands-on senior engineers who oversee the quality of a team’s programming. The engineering manager oversees the engineering team and ensures that it is working efficiently and effectively.
There are many different organizations dedicated to supporting engineers, offering resources, training and networking opportunities. Some of the biggest and most popular include:
Engineering management is the practice of engineering and the business of managing other engineers to complete technically complex projects. It has been defined as the art and science of planning, organizing, allocating resources and directing and controlling activities that have a technological component.
The challenge of engineering management will largely depend on your ability to leverage your technical engineering skills while developing managerial and leadership skills. If you prefer the actual work of engineering and aren’t comfortable as a team leader, then you’ll find it very difficult. However, if you enjoy collaboration, mentorship and similar interactions, then you’ll find engineering management to be a natural fit.
The time it takes to become a manager in engineering will vary depending on your level of education, work experience, performance and the specific company or industry you’re working in. In general, it may take anywhere from seven to 15 years or more to enter the engineering field and work your way up to engineering manager.
There are many responsibilities and day-to-day duties that make up the foundation of the engineering manager role. Common overarching responsibilities include: analyzing, proposing and managing project resources and budgets; keeping projects on track and on budget and delegating responsibilities. Day-to-day tasks can be: leading daily standup meetings, attending stakeholder meetings and conducting one-on-ones with individual team members.
It’s possible to improve the skill set you already have, or develop new skills from the ground up, as you set out on your journey toward becoming an engineering manager. You can cultivate the skills you’ll need by earning a master’s degree, through current work experience and continuing education.
There’s no one right path to follow on the road to becoming an engineering manager. However, earning an advanced degree (such as a master’s in engineering management), getting on-the-job experience in your current role and pursuing continuing education opportunities are all good starting points.
Having hard skills such as process development, proficiency in programming languages (or other technical concepts) and budget setting can make your job as an engineering manager easier.
Even though an engineering manager’s job description doesn’t leave much room for technical tasks, it’s crucial that the person in this role has a technical background. Not only does having this kind of know-how make explaining complex concepts easier to non-technical stakeholders, clients and higher-ups, it builds credibility with the engineers you’ll manage.
There are many different organizations dedicated to supporting engineers, offering resources, training and networking opportunities. Some of the most prominent include:
Students who want to apply to engineering management and leadership programs are expected to have at least a few years of experience within the field of engineering — preferably some prior management experience having led teams or projects.
Not every great engineer makes a great manager. If you’re interested in advancing to management or leadership roles, especially at the executive level, then you’ll need to master a variety of skills related to team, project and business management.
The curriculum of engineering management programs is meant to supplement a professional’s existing engineering expertise with instruction on managerial skills, effective communication, an understanding of markets and how to understand and achieve organizational goals.
While an MBA program with a focus on engineering can provide a general understanding of business processes, a master’s program in engineering management will focus on issues and elements that are specific to the engineering field. These programs will pull problems, challenges and examples directly from industry and instruct students how to apply solutions to the engineering space.
The MS-EML program is a total of 30 units.
Students will enroll in two prescribed 3-unit courses each semester for a total of 6 semester units.
Tuition for the MS-EML program is $925 per unit.
Tuition amounts shown on this website, or in other university publications or web pages, represent tuition and fees as currently approved. However, the University of San Diego reserves the right to increase or modify tuition and fees without prior notice and to make such modifications applicable to students enrolled at USD at that time as well as to incoming students. In addition, all tuition amounts and fees are subject to change at any time for correction of errors. Please note that the displayed tuition covers only the cost of courses, and additional expenses such as books and other fees are not included.
Earn your master’s degree on a schedule that’s convenient for you.