What Is a Director of Software Engineering? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.

A director of software engineering is in charge of building and managing the team responsible for the software development process. Here’s what to know about a director of software engineering’s salary, needed skills and how to become one.

What Is a Director of Software Engineering?

A director of software engineering is a high-level management position for a professional who has spent several years working in software engineering and has extensive coding and programming skills. To effectively run their department, the director of software engineering must bring a strategic mindset in addition to technical prowess.

What Does a Director of Software Engineering Do?

A director of software engineering covers a range of responsibilities, including hiring, training, and allocating resources so that software engineers have what they need to be successful.

Director of Software Engineering Responsibilities

• Interviewing and hiring software engineers.
• Developing and leading training for team members.
• Establishing software development goals.
• Managing budgets and distribution of resources.
• Collaborating on coding and programming for various projects.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a Director of Software Engineering

• Communicating goals with team members as well as executive leadership.
• Overseeing adherence to cybersecurity protocols.
• Setting and managing project deadlines.
• Delegating project tasks.
• Overseeing onboarding of new employees.

Director of Software Engineering Within a Company

A director of software engineering is an engineering team leader who usually reports directly to the VP of engineering. 

Importance of a Director of Software Engineering

A director of software engineering brings a broad skill set that lets them manage people and resources while also jumping into projects as needed to put their coding and programming expertise into practice.

What Skills Are Needed to Be a Director of Software Engineering?

Qualifications to Be a Director of Software Engineering

• Knowledge of relevant programming languages.
• Experience managing a team.
• Understanding of how to manage a budget.
• Comfortable communicating with executive leadership.
• Experience interviewing and onboarding new employees.
• Familiarity with best practices and training for software development.
• Ability to work with necessary tools and software.

Director of Software Engineering Prerequisites

• A four-year degree in a field like computer science or information technology.
• Bootcamps, courses and certifications to sharpen their coding and management skills.

Director of Engineering Hard Skills

• Coding and programming knowledge.
• Budget management.
• Training developers and engineers.
• Understanding cybersecurity protocols and best practices.
• Working with software engineering tools and software.

Director of Engineering Soft Skills

• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Meeting deadlines.
• Assigning tasks and responsibilities.

Tools and Programs a Director of Software Engineering Uses

• Github
• Bugzilla
• Docker
• Jira
• Asana
• Trello
• Slack
• Google Workspace

How to Become a Director of Software Engineering

Director of Software Engineering Education and Experience

A director of software engineering commonly holds a four-year degree in a field such as computer science. They are also often required to have eight to 10 years of relevant experience.

Director of Software Engineering Certificates and Courses

• Certified Computing Professional
• Professional Software Engineering Master Certification
• Certified Professional in Engineering Management

Director of Software Engineering Career Path

A professional can expect to spend three to four years working in an entry-level engineer or developer role before moving into a senior software engineer or engineering manager position, where they’ll likely spend several years before qualifying for a director of software engineering job. The next step in the career path could be a jump to vice president of engineering.

Director of Software Engineering Salary and Job Outlook

Increased employment in this field will largely be driven by “expansion of software development for artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and other automation applications,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The full compensation package for a director of software engineering depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average director of software engineering salary.