Director of Engineering
What the role covers, how it changes with the company stage and the training that helps, then how interviews run and how to prepare for each step.
What a director of engineering actually does
The leader who runs several engineering teams in one domain, through their managers, and makes delivery and quality work across them.
A director of engineering leads several teams in a domain of the product, usually through engineering managers. They report to the VP Engineering or the CTO.
They own the technical roadmap of the domain with product directors, plan across teams, follow delivery and quality, and hire and grow managers.
They take the decisions that touch several teams, such as shared architecture, priorities and staffing.
- One to one meetings with engineering managers
- Planning across teams with product directors
- A review of delivery and quality metrics
- Interviews for managers or senior engineers
- A decision on a shared technical topic
The same title, very different scopes
Most director of engineering searches are defined first by the size of the domain, then by the focus areas every director shares.
How the role changes with the company stage
The title stays the same, and the job changes a lot with the size and the stage of the company. Here is what changes from one stage to the next.
- Leads all teams with few managers
- Stays close to the code and the product
- Builds the first processes
- Leads several teams through managers
- Plans across teams with product
- Hires and grows managers
- Leads a large domain with many managers
- Owns budgets and metrics for the domain
- Works across product areas
- Leads teams across countries or time zones
- Balances local and global needs
- Coordinates with other directors
The paths into the role, and what really counts
For this role, companies look first at delivery across several teams and the managers you developed. Education matters less than your track record.
- Engineering school or master's in computer scienceThe most common path in France, and often expected by large companies.
- University degree in computer scienceThe most common path in the US.
- Engineering management firstMost directors were engineering managers or senior managers before.
- Technical leadership firstSome come from staff engineering roles and move to management.
Our view: for this role, delivery across several teams and managers you developed often say more than any certificate.
A conversation with a senior tech recruiter
Your first interview is with one of our senior tech recruiters, who knows the role, its scope and the company stages in this guide. The conversation covers your own leadership through real examples, and we handle these searches with particular discretion. Before the call, we send you the six themes we will cover so you can prepare your examples.
- What you owned yourselfThe domains, teams or managers you led, and your own part in the decisions.
- Your environment and its constraintsTeam size, product needs, technical debt, budget or deadlines: what shaped your choices.
- The decisions you madeHow you organised teams, how you planned and which hires first, the options you compared and the reasons for your choice.
- The impact of your workWhat changed thanks to your leadership, with numbers when you have them: delivery speed, quality, retention or managers grown.
- How you work with other teamsYour work with the VP Engineering, product directors and your managers, and how you settle a disagreement.
- What you want nextThe kind of domain, organisation and scope you are looking for in your next role.
- Delivery across several teams
- Managers you developed
- Decisions across teams
The same ground for every candidate. For a given role, every candidate answers the same final questions, built with the hiring manager around what the role really needs.
Ready for the next steps. After our call, we tell you how the company runs its interviews, who you will meet at each step and what each step is meant to assess.
What the company will assess, step by step
Each company runs its own process, and we walk you through its steps before you start. Director of Engineering processes often combine the steps below, and the depth expected at each step grows with the size of the role.
- Interviews with the VP Engineering or the CTOSeveral conversations on your vision, your leadership and how you would work together.
- A strategic case or a 90-day planA real problem of the company, or your plan for your first 90 days, to present and discuss.
- Meetings with product directors and engineering managersConversations with your future peers, and sometimes a board member or an investor.
- ReferencesCalls with people you worked with, often including informal references the company finds on its own.
- Scale-upYou show how you lead through managers and plan across teams.
- EnterpriseYou show how you own budgets and metrics for a large domain.
- International groupYou show how you lead teams across countries and coordinate with other directors.
How to prepare as a director of engineering
Practical advice for each step of a director of engineering process, from the way you introduce yourself to the questions you ask at the end of each interview.
Start with the teams and domains you led, their size and the results. Mention your context in one sentence, then close with what you want next.
For each one, prepare the context, the stakes, your decision, the options you set aside, the result and what you would change today.
Prepare the size of your teams, your delivery metrics, your hiring and your retention, with how they changed during your time in the role.
Companies often ask for one, sometimes in writing. Keep it simple: what you would learn, what you would decide and what you would deliver first.
Leaders are often asked how AI changes their area. Prepare how AI coding tools change your teams, with one decision you took.
Choose references who saw you lead, such as a former manager, a peer and someone from your team, and brief them before the calls.
- Walk us through a domain you led and how it changed.
- How do you develop engineering managers?
- How do you plan work across several teams?
- What would you do in your first 90 days here?
- How many teams and managers would I lead?
- How do directors and the VP Engineering share the work?
- How is planning done across teams?
- Which delivery or quality problems need fixing first?
- What is the hiring plan for the domain?
- How do teams use AI coding tools today?
Where directors of engineering come from, and where they go
The roles people most often hold before this one, and the ones they most often move to.