Role and responsibilities

In a software organisation, a Vice President (VP) of Engineering is responsible for leading and managing a company's software development. They oversee the design, development, testing, and maintenance of software products and systems. They also work closely with other departments, such as product management, QA, and operations, to ensure that software development aligns with company goals and meets customer needs. Additionally, they may be responsible for hiring, training, and mentoring software engineers, as well as managing the budget for the software development team.

VP of Engineering vs CTO

In technology organisations, the VP of Engineering is usually the CTO's right hand, in charge of executing their strategies. Here are the main differences between the two roles:

Note

Companies may have different interpretations of the roles of a CTO and a VP of Engineering. Some companies view the CTO as the most senior contributor, similar to a Chief Architect. Other companies, however, see the CTO as the most senior engineering manager, responsible for the engineering organisation's people and technical aspects, in addition to being involved in broader business and strategy decisions as a senior leadership team member. Similarly, the role of the VP of Engineering can vary among companies. Some companies may see the VP of Engineering as the engineering team's leader, reporting to the CTO. Others may view the VP of Engineering as a proto-CTO, with responsibilities similar to those of a CTO but with the potential for a more senior leader to be hired later on.

When to hire a VP of Engineering

A company should think of hiring a VP of Engineering when:

1. The CTO needs help managing the engineering team. In this scenario, the CTO had been acting as VP of Engineering, directly managing several Engineering Managers who manage teams of 6-10 engineers. As the department grows, managing all teams and focusing on strategy becomes impossible. In this scenario, there are usually between 25 and 50 engineers in the company.
2. The CTO doesn't want to handle delivery and people management. In this scenario, the CTO prefers to focus only on technology strategy and architecture and wants to delegate engineering management responsibilities. The VP of Engineering would then act as an Engineering Manager and scale their team. In this scenario, there could be around ten engineers in the company.