Engineering Manager

Overview and Key Facts

What Do They Do?

An Engineering Manager could...

Overview Listen to this section

Engineering managers not only have to be knowledgeable about engineering, but they also need the right skills to be a good manager. Engineering managers supervise and coordinate a team of engineers. There are many specific engineering fields in which they could work, including manufacturing, electrical design, nuclear engineering, software, aerospace, and many others.

Do You Have the Skills and Characteristics of an Engineering Manager?

1. Reading Comprehension: ? Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
2. Writing: ? Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
3. Active Listening: ? Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
4. Complex Problem Solving: ? Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
5. Speaking: ? Talking to others to convey information effectively.

6. Judgment and Decision Making: ? Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
7. Time Management: ? Managing one's own time and the time of others.
8. Active Learning: ? Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
9. Critical Thinking: ? Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
10. Mathematics: ? Using mathematics to solve problems.

Core Tasks

Think about if you'd like the typical tasks an Engineering Manager might do:

• Create a detailed schedule to accomplish feasible goals by setting specific deadlines, while taking into consideration possible delays and setbacks.
• Use engineering skills to improve and troubleshoot a product.
• Interact with senior management to understand and incorporate bigger-picture and longer-term goals for the company.
• Work with other engineers to design a new product based on customer feedback.
• Work with other engineers to improve, or tailor, a product based on specific customer needs.
• Hire a person with the right skill set for a project.
• Supervise and manage a team of engineers and others involved in a project to accomplish a goal by a specific deadline.
• Meet with customers to understand their product needs and advise them on using a certain product.
• Meet with customers to get feedback on a product.
• Relay customer feedback on a product back to others in the company and discuss how the product should be improved, or how a new one should be designed.
• Determine how to meet specific goals while staying within a tight budget.
• Meet with people in sales and go over financial reviews and budgeting records to determine what financial avenues to pursue for the company.
• Travel to meet with customers, and possibly collaborators, at other locations.
• Write summaries and give presentations on a project and its progress.
• Interact with specialists that may be required for a specific project.
• Train customers in using the company's product.
• Update senior management on the progress of a specific product or project.