In general, the responsibilities of a CTO depends wildly on the size of the company. If there is any topic that you’d like for me to tackle, please feel free to let me know. When I was a Lead Engineer, it was my goal to tackle challenges by thoughtfully driving collaborative efforts based on everyone’s strengths. Great founding teams usually sport multiple co-founders with complementary backgrounds – usually, a hacker, a hustler and a designer make a good starting team. Once the headcount for the company goes past 15 or 20, the project and people management aspects of the job will start to dominate. People confuse the roles of CIO and CTO, and for good reasons. Eventually the hacker/CTO might realize they are doing a lot of things that they don’t love (e.g. These are very different roles, and the roles themselves change and evolve as the startup grows. When should a startup bring on a VP of Engineering? At this point in the startup’s lifecycle, the hacker or CTO is typically the only technical guru on board. You’ll be managing an entire team of engineers and developers, collaborating with the product managers, as well as guiding the company’s product vision and maintaining compliance with quality standards. Engineering managers have broader responsibilities than engineering leads. We’re looking for a Vice President (VP) of Engineering with experience managing agile development teams. Since the CTO is responsible for thought leadership and for maintaining the technical edge of the company, he or she will often be a key contributor to the company blog. That includes employee software tools, internal communication, technical infrastructure, process control, access control, employee network, cost management, integration of technologies across business units, etc. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. She is also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He or she has deep insights into the protectable technologies and core competencies of the company. Privacy Policy, and A free resume critique witih a career advisor, Mentorship sessions with leaders in your industry, Unlimited access to our curated job board. The VP Engineering role traditionally includes multiple aspects: The VP Engineering is traditionally responsible for managing the annual bottom-up budget for the engineering department, which is often the biggest cost center for a technology-based startup. The VP Engineering role traditionally includes multiple aspects: Personnel management – for small teams (up to 10 FTE), the VP Engineering is the direct supervisor of the technical staff. Strategy development – the VP Engineering serves as part of the senior staff, working in an interdisciplinary manner with their peers in other departments (e.g. This group can be permanently assigned, or they can be organized on a rotating basis, so a series of different engineers can enjoy the experience of working with the company’s technical guru. A technical lead is typically an engineer who is more experienced than his or her peers and displays leadership skills or potential. With that said, we will never promote anything we don’t trust or haven’t used. The Vice President of Engineering is a senior executive role with a broad range of responsibilities. He or she typically reports to the Director or VP of Engineering. For larger teams (> 10 FTE), the VP E often manages contributing engineering managers, who serve as the direct supervisor of the technical staff. You have to accept our privacy policy and terms of services. It is also a step toward executive positions, which I am going to describe next. At the end of the free trial, you will be charged $166 annually. He or she will also be significantly involved in technical due diligence for potential M&A deals. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. There is typically an overall program plan that incorporates all inter-dependencies between functional disciplines (e.g. The Human Dimension of Software Engineering, March 21, 2018 by Lorenzo Pasqualis 3 Comments. ConceptSpring, she works with executives and leaders of innovative teams to create product strategies, craft innovation management processes, and develop aggressive but achievable program plans to implement the company’s vision. Responsibilities include high-level direction, technology choices, long-term technical and product strategy, interfacing with legal counsel on technical matters, setting policies, defining processes, establish partnerships with vendors, etc. Technical leads become leads through the respect, recognition, and admiration of others. Technical leadership – the VP Engineering is responsible for co-developing the technical strategy with the CTO, and for developing and maintaining a technical roadmap that will continue to innovate from a technical standpoint. Before we unpack what a VPE does, it is essential to understand the different roles within engineering leadership. To ensure continuous service, your membership will be auto-renewed. In some cases, the CTO is a manager of VPs and Directors and is broadly responsible for the entire product development organization. Software Engineering Job Titles Explained, Doodle Tuesday: Roots, Fruits and Flowers, Software Maintenance, Understanding the 4 Types. project and people management) and not spending time on the things that they do love (e.g. Very glad that you find my labor of love useful; it makes all the difference. A VP of Engineering is an executive who manages development teams. Personnel management – for small teams (up to 10 FTE), the VP Engineering is the direct supervisor of the technical staff. You are responsible for ensuring that the daily and long-term operations of the engineering department are smooth. Terms of Use, An engineering manager is a software engineer who has chosen a management career track over a technical one. Moreover, he or she spends a significant part of their time coding (e.g., 60%) and the remaining on people management and leadership activities. Once I transitioned into Director of Engineering, my sphere of influe… technical explorations). What Qualifications Do Employers Look for When Hiring for a Remote Job? Physical Address Filed Under: career, leadership Tagged With: career, hiring, leadership, people, roles, teams, Very informative. The Seven Deadly Myths About Women in Business. For teams at scale (> 100 FTE), the VP E’s direct reports will typically be senior level engineering directors, who in turn manage engineering managers. He or she might spend 80% of the time as an individual contributor on software projects (i.e., coding), and 20% of their time on people management and leadership activities. The CTO usually does not maintain a large staff. By becoming an All Access user, you agree to IvyExec.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Elaine is a startup veteran and innovation and entrepreneurship consultant who has brought numerous hardware and software products to market. A team leader is a technical lead for all projects that a particular team takes on. For example, they could start out with a role such as chief technology officer, progress to a title such as chief technology officer and then eventually end up with the title chief technology officer. For example, someone who is vocal, a quick thinker, or an influencer. Someone with the title of “Director of Engineering” is often in charge of both the development and QAQuality Assurance functions. CTO vs VP Engineering: What’s the Difference? A technical lead is a software engineer who guides the technical vision and execution of a software project, initiative or technology. Plus, be the first to @chenelaine. An engineering lead is typically a technical lead with a small number of direct reports (e.g., 2 or 3). is a manager of managers and individual contributors in charge of an area or function of the engineering organization. Sometimes, it is a purely technical position usually reserved for a technical co-founder. 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