Skills
Engineering Manager Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in engineering managers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do engineering managers need?
Engineering Managers need technical skills such as engineering expertise, project management, and budgeting, plus people skills like leadership and communication. They also use tools such as Project management software and CAD tools.
Technical (hard) skills
- Engineering expertise
- Project management
- Budgeting
- Design review
- Technical strategy
- Risk management
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Decision-making
- Coaching
Tools, equipment and technology
- Project management software
- CAD tools
- ERP systems
- Dashboards
- Jira or similar
- Presentation tools
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how engineering managers put their skills to work:
- How to run an effective engineering design review
- How to make the move from engineer to manager
- How to build an engineering resource plan
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Engineering expertise” and “Project management.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as PE license near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our engineering manager glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Engineering Manager training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.