What is the role of a Director of Engineering?
The Director of Engineering is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of innovative technological strategies that boost efficiency and revenue for the organisation.
The Director of Engineering has to communicate with other executives to identify areas that are open for technology-driven advancements, lead research and development efforts and makes sure all departments in the company stay ahead of industry trends.
What qualifications are required to be a Director of Engineering?
Similar to most high level positions, there are no set qualifications to become an Engineering Director. Although most Directors of Engineering will usually have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant sector such as information technology, engineering or computer science, this is not a hard requirement. The main qualification companies tend to look for is extensive experience in a tech and leadership position, along with a track record of successful implementations of new technologies, strong team management and long term strategic planning.
What are the responsibilities of a Director of Engineering?
The main responsibilities of a Director of Engineering include driving the company’s engineering strategy & vision and leading and recruiting the engineering function.
A Director of Engineering is not simply a senior engineer. In fact, many successful Directors of Engineering may have begun their careers as junior engineers, but over time, have built up the management experience necessary to lead and grow a team of engineers, rather than be involved in the day-to-day operations of the tech function.
With that being said, in smaller organisations (Pre-Seed to Series A), there may be cases where Engineering Directors are responsible for programming and working in a hybrid leadership/individual contributor position.
When to hire an Director of Engineering?
This primarily depends on the size and stage of the organisation.
For many startups and scaleups (usually less than 100 employees and pre-Series A), there is often no need for a Director of Engineering as there would be a CTO/Co-Founder responsible for managing the company’s engineering department.
Therefore, the key time to hire a Director of Engineering is when the engineering department of an organisation has grown large enough that the CTO has to focus on the wider technology strategy, rather than the day-to-day operations of the engineering team. This is explored in more detail below.
Should I hire a CTO or Director of Engineering?
This is a common question asked by startups and the simple answer is it depends on the size of the company and their engineering team.
The main difference between a CTO and Director of Engineering is that CTOs tend to focus more on the overall technology strategy of the company, whereas Directors of Engineering are more concerned with the practical implementation of technology in the organisation. Therefore, the latter would be more involved in the day-to-day operations of the technical function.
We typically see CTOs hire a Director of Engineering after raising a Series A or B, but this is dependent on the existing size of the engineering team.
What Salary and Benefits should I offer a
Director of Engineering?
Similarly to most positions, this is entirely dependent on the size and stage of your business. With that being said, it is hire you have to get right as the Director of Engineering will be the main driving force behind the company’s success in creating market-leading products.
In terms of benefits, most companies have a bonus scheme in place linked to the function’s performance (in terms of meeting product release dates) or company performance. This is typically between 10-25% of the candidate’s base salary.
In terms of base salary, the table below gives an indication of Directors of Engineering salaries depending on the stage of the company’s growth (this is an average and results may vary):
| Growth Stage | Basic Salary |
|---|---|
| Seed | £70 – £90k |
| Series A | £90 – £105k |
| Series B | £100 – £120k |
| Series C | £120 – £150k |
| Series D | £180k + |
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