VP 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 VP Engineering actually does
The leader who runs the engineering organisation day to day, from directors and managers to delivery, quality and the hiring plan.
A VP Engineering runs the engineering organisation. They lead directors and engineering managers, own the hiring plan and the career framework, and make sure teams deliver with quality and reliability.
They set the engineering processes and the roadmap with the CTO and product leaders, follow engineering metrics such as the DORA metrics, and manage technical debt and on-call with the teams.
Where the company has both roles, the CTO often owns the technical vision and the VP Engineering owns the organisation and the delivery.
- A leadership meeting with directors and managers
- A delivery review with product leaders
- Interviews and a review of the hiring plan
- A review of engineering metrics and incidents
- A budget discussion with finance
The same title, very different scopes
Most VP Engineering searches are defined first by the size of the organisation, then by the focus areas every VP Engineering 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 engineers, often with few managers
- Builds the first processes and hiring
- Stays close to the code and the product
- Builds a layer of managers and directors
- Sets the career framework and the hiring plan
- Makes delivery predictable as teams grow
- Leads a large organisation through directors
- Owns budgets and engineering metrics
- Works across several product areas
- Runs engineering under strict controls
- Works with audit and risk on delivery
- Plans the organisation for the long term
The paths into the role, and what really counts
For this role, companies look first at teams you scaled and leaders you hired. 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 VPs of Engineering were directors of engineering before.
- Technical leadership firstSome come from staff or principal engineering roles and move to management.
Our view: for this role, teams you scaled and leaders you hired 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 engineering organisations, teams or processes you led, and your own part in the decisions.
- Your environment and its constraintsCompany stage, team size, budget, technical debt or deadlines: what shaped your choices.
- The decisions you madeHow you organised teams, which processes 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: teams scaled, delivery speed, reliability, retention or hiring.
- How you work with other teamsYour work with the CTO, product leaders, finance and your managers, and how you settle a disagreement.
- What you want nextThe kind of organisation, stage and scope you are looking for in your next role.
- Teams scaled
- Predictable delivery
- Leaders hired
- Engineering culture
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. VP Engineering processes often combine the steps below, and the depth expected at each step grows with the size of the role.
- Interviews with the CTO and the CEOSeveral 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 leaders and engineering directorsConversations 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 built a layer of managers and made delivery predictable.
- EnterpriseYou show how you lead through directors and manage budgets and metrics.
- Listed companyYou show how you plan the organisation for the long term under strict controls.
How to prepare as a VP Engineering
Practical advice for each step of a VP Engineering process, from the way you introduce yourself to the questions you ask at the end of each interview.
Start with the engineering organisations 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 hiring, your delivery metrics 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 an organisation you scaled.
- How do you make delivery predictable?
- How do you hire and grow engineering managers?
- What would you do in your first 90 days here?
- How do the CTO and the VP Engineering share the work?
- How many teams and managers would I lead?
- What is the hiring plan for the next year?
- Which engineering metrics does the company follow?
- Which delivery problems need fixing first?
- How do teams use AI coding tools today?
Where VPs 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.