Job Description Template
A Vice President (VP) of Engineering is an executive-level role. Candidates who best fit this role are often not actively looking for new opportunities. As such, your job description must sell these candidates on the opportunity such that they're willing to leave their current role.
Ask yourself the following questions to get a better sense of how to present your company and the role to prospective candidates:
Remember, the job spec needs to be both educational and intriguing. You need to inform and sell.
Use the VP of Engineering job description template below to create your ideal candidate profile and provide the information that executive candidates care about most.
This is where you will introduce your company, mission statement, and values. This section is one of the most important sections, as it will be a key selling point for top candidates. Emphasize the company culture, reputation, and anything else that makes your company amazing.
Here is where you'll want to give a brief overview of whom you're looking for. Highlight the most important aspects of the role and touch upon the impact that the VP of Engineering will have on the rest of the company.
We’re looking for a Vice President (VP) of Engineering with experience managing agile development teams. Our VP of Engineering will be responsible for ensuring that products meet design requirements, and deliver a consistent experience for users. 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.
Below is a list of skills and responsibilities typically required for a VP of Engineering. Select and modify as you see fit and as they pertain to your particular role.
- Design, implement, and monitor all operations and key performance metrics/operational efficiency for the engineering team.
- Know how to recruit and develop top engineering talent.
- Develop standards and procedures to ensure quality standards are met and maintained.
- Maintain and optimize budgets to meet goals.
- Understand and collaborate on the complete product lifecycle from concept to execution.
- Recommends new technology and ideas to improve sprints and efficiency.
- Build, develop, and manages the engineering team capable of carrying out initiatives.
Make sure to mention any additional knowledge of the industry, or other technology/information relevant to your product/company.
Below is a list of qualifications typically required for a VP of Engineering. Select and modify as you see fit and as they pertain to your particular role.
- B.S. and an advanced degree in a technical field required (Computer Science, Computer Engineering, etc.)
- [#] years of experience in engineering leadership with [#] years experience leading an engineering team
- Experience working with both software development and with hardware engineering
- Strong verbal, visual, and written communication skills with the ability to explain approach to all levels in the organization including key stakeholders
- Able to think strategically and see the big picture
- Experience managing a distributed team
- Extensive engineering expertise in the areas of tooling, prints, specifications, product maintenance, budgeting, and software products
- Proven success working closely with Product Management, contributing to the product strategy and helping to successfully deliver on the product roadmap
Insert the benefits or company perks here. You’ll want to emphasize items such as:
A VP of Engineering is critical to your company, you can't afford to hire the wrong person. You could post this job description online and make the hire yourself, but the best VP candidates aren't looking on job boards.
Or you could use The Clockwork Network to find an Executive Search firm that specializes in finding VPs better and faster than anyone else. Our free service finds you the best search firms that have a proven track record for your exact type of search.
