CareersDirector of Engineering

DO

Verified Career Path

Director of Engineering: Facts, Skills, and Next Paths

A Director of Engineering oversees multiple engineering teams, ensuring projects meet technical specifications, budgets, and timelines. Day-to-day work includes setting strategic direction, reviewing designs, resolving technical roadblocks, and aligning engineering output with business goals.

Core responsibilities include team leadership, process improvement, vendor management, and compliance with industry standards. This role typically sits in the corporate engineering or operations division, reporting to a VP or CTO. For example, at Jabil the Director optimizes large-scale factory assembly processes, while at CVS Health the Lead Director focuses on AI network and data center engineering. Other postings from Elanco, Jacobs, and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center emphasize supervising engineers and managing complex technical programs.

The median salary for this role is about $135,000. The most-requested skills in current job postings are Compliance (60% of listings), Team Leadership (40%), Automation (40%), and Project Management (40%).

$245,787 – $398,728

9 resume skills

90 adjacent paths

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$245,787 – $398,728

Avg. Salary

18 paths

Adjacent Paths

56% avg. match

Avg. Match Score

57.1 shared skills

Shared Foundation

Live market pulse· updated 11d ago

Salary (live)

$245,787 – $398,728

median $309,867

Hiring now

10+ recent postings

Who's hiring

Vanderbilt University, Stonehouse Resources, Cologix, Inc.

The Skill Blueprint for Director of Engineering

The core competencies employers ask for. Use them to strengthen your resume, spot gaps, and compare related career options.

In demand right nowLeadership · 100%Strategy · 60%Security · 50%Innovation · 50%Electrical Engineering · 50%Integration · 40%Cloud Platforms · 40%Architecture · 40%

Where Else Can Director of Engineering Skills Take You?

Build toward this role and you may be building toward several others. Explore the paths that share the same foundation.

Adjacent Paths from Director of Engineering

Sort by:

1

Director of Data Science

85 shared skills · Data

63%

−$77kCareer change

2

Director of IT

71 shared skills · IT

60%

−$122kCareer change

3

Senior Product Manager

60 shared skills · Product

60%

−$82kCareer change

4

Robotics Engineer

39 shared skills · Engineering

59%

−$185kCareer change

5

Director of Data Engineering

85 shared skills · Data

58%

−$66kCareer change

6

VP of Data

70 shared skills · Data

57%

−$65kCareer change

7

Platform Product Manager

49 shared skills · Product

57%

−$145kCareer change

8

NLP Engineer

31 shared skills · Engineering

57%

−$144kCareer change

9

Product Manager, Data Platform

48 shared skills · Product

56%

−$132kCareer change

10

Chief Innovation Officer

41 shared skills · Executive

55%

+$34kCareer change

11

Staff Data Scientist

59 shared skills · Data

54%

−$165kCareer change

12

Staff Solutions Architect

67 shared skills · Engineering

54%

−$43kCareer change

13

Director of Product

60 shared skills · Product

54%

−$33kCareer change

14

Computer Vision Engineer

43 shared skills · Engineering

53%

−$77kCareer change

15

President

56 shared skills · Executive

53%

−$223kCareer change

16

AI Engineer

69 shared skills · Engineering

53%

−$165kCareer change

17

Senior Engineering Manager

51 shared skills · Engineering

52%

+$31kCareer change

18

Director of Internal Audit

43 shared skills · Finance

52%

−$130kCareer change

Showing the top 18 of 90 transitions — explore the rest via the Network map.

Why People Explore Director of Engineering

High Impact Visibility

Director of Engineerings sit at a critical intersection in the organization. Your work directly ties to key business metrics — making your impact visible across teams and to leadership.

Resume Signal

The skills behind Director of Engineering — Compliance, Team Leadership, Automation — give you concrete language for resumes, interviews, and adjacent roles.