Occupation Profile for Engineering Managers

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as architecture and engineering or research and development in these fields.

Signficant Points

• Most engineering and natural sciences managers have formal education and work experience as engineers, scientists, or mathematicians.
• Projected employment growth for engineering and natural sciences managers is closely related to growth in employment of the engineers and scientists they supervise and the industries in which they work.
• Opportunities will be best for workers with strong communication and business management skills.

Overview

Sample Job Titles

Training

• These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include librarians, lawyers, aerospace engineers, physicists, school psychologists, and surgeons.
• A bachelor's degree is the minimum formal education required for these occupations. However, many also require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
• Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
• Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Strong technical knowledge is essential for engineering and natural sciences managers, who must understand and guide the work of their subordinates and explain the work in nontechnical terms to senior management and potential customers. Therefore, most managers have formal education and work experience as an engineer, scientist, or mathematician.

Education and training. These managers usually have education similar to that of the workers they supervise. Most engineering managers, for example, begin their careers as engineers, after completing a bachelor’s degree in the field. Many engineers gain business management skills by completing a master’s degree in engineering management (MEM) or business administration (MBA). Employers often pay for such training. In large firms, some courses required in these degree programs may be offered onsite. Typically, engineers who prefer to manage in technical areas pursue an MEM, and those interested in less technical management earn an MBA.

Similarly, many science managers begin their careers as scientists, such as chemists, biologists, geologists, or mathematicians. Most scientists and mathematicians engaged in basic research have a Ph.D. degree; some who work in applied research and other activities may have a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Graduate programs allow scientists to augment their undergraduate training with instruction in other fields, such as management or computer technology. Natural science managers interested in more technical management may earn traditional master’s or Ph.D. degrees in natural sciences or master’s degrees in science that incorporate business management skills. Those interested in more general management may pursue an MBA. Given the rapid pace of scientific developments, science managers must continuously upgrade their knowledge.

Other qualifications. Engineering and natural sciences managers must be specialists in the work they supervise. To advance to these positions, engineers and scientists generally must gain experience and assume management responsibility. To fill management positions, employers seek engineers and scientists who possess administrative and communication skills in addition to technical knowledge in their specialty. In fact, because engineering and natural sciences managers must effectively lead groups and coordinate projects, they usually need excellent communication and administrative skills.

Advancement. Engineering and natural sciences managers may advance to progressively higher leadership positions within their disciplines. Some may become managers in nontechnical areas such as marketing, human resources, or sales. In high technology firms, managers in nontechnical areas often must possess the same specialized knowledge as do managers in technical areas. For example, employers in an engineering firm may prefer to hire experienced engineers as sales workers because the complex services offered by the firm can be marketed only by someone with specialized engineering knowledge. Such sales workers could eventually advance to jobs as sales managers.

Nature of Work

Engineering and natural sciences managers plan, coordinate, and direct research, design, and production activities. They may supervise engineers, scientists, and technicians, along with support personnel. These managers use their knowledge of engineering and natural sciences to oversee a variety of activities. They determine scientific and technical goals within broad outlines provided by top executives, who are discussed elsewhere in the Handbook. These goals may include improving manufacturing processes, advancing scientific research, or developing new products. Managers make detailed plans to accomplish these goals. For example, they may develop the overall concepts of a new product or identify technical problems preventing the completion of a project.

To perform effectively, these managers also must apply knowledge of administrative procedures, such as budgeting, hiring, and supervision. They propose budgets for projects and programs and determine staff, training, and equipment needs. They hire and assign scientists, engineers, and support personnel to carry out specific parts of each project. They also supervise the work of these employees, check the technical accuracy of their work and the soundness of their methods, review their output, and establish administrative procedures and policies—including environmental standards, for example.

In addition, these managers use communication skills extensively. They spend a great deal of time coordinating the activities of their unit with those of other units or organizations. They confer with higher levels of management; with financial, production, marketing, and other managers; and with contractors and equipment and materials suppliers.

Engineering managers may supervise people who design and develop machinery, products, systems, and processes. They might also direct and coordinate production, operations, quality assurance, testing, or maintenance in industrial plants. Many are plant engineers, who direct and coordinate the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and machinery in industrial plants. Others manage research and development teams that produce new products and processes or improve existing ones.

Natural sciences managers oversee the work of life and physical scientists, including agricultural scientists, chemists, biologists, geologists, medical scientists, and physicists. These managers direct research and development projects and coordinate activities such as testing, quality control, and production. They may work on basic research projects or on commercial activities. Science managers sometimes conduct their own research in addition to managing the work of others.

Work environment. Engineering and natural sciences managers spend most of their time in an office. Some managers, however, also may work in laboratories, where they may be exposed to the same conditions as research scientists, or in industrial plants, where they may be exposed to the same conditions as production workers. Most managers work at least 40 hours a week and may work much longer on occasion to meet project deadlines. Some may experience considerable pressure to meet technical or scientific goals on a short deadline or within a tight budget.

Related Occupations

• Aerospace Engineers
• Civil Engineers
• Industrial Safety and Health Engineers
• Marine Engineers
• Marine Architects
• Mining, Geological, Mining Safety Engineers
• Nuclear Engineers
• Petroleum Engineers
• Electrical Drafters

Related Academic Programs

• Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
• Agricultural/Biological Engineering and Bioengineering.
• Architectural Engineering.
• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD).
• Biomedical/Medical Engineering.
• Ceramic Sciences and Engineering.
• Chemical Engineering.
• City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning.
• Civil Engineering, General.
• Civil Engineering, Other.
• Computer Engineering, General.
• Computer Engineering, Other.
• Computer Hardware Engineering.
• Computer Software Engineering.
• Construction Engineering.
• Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering.
• Engineering Mechanics.
• Engineering Physics.
• Engineering Science.
• Engineering, General.
• Engineering, Other.
• Environmental Design/Architecture.
• Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering.
• Forest Engineering.
• Geological/Geophysical Engineering.
• Geotechnical Engineering.
• Industrial Engineering.
• Interior Architecture.
• Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD).
• Manufacturing Engineering.
• Materials Engineering.
• Materials Science.
• Mechanical Engineering.
• Metallurgical Engineering.
• Mining and Mineral Engineering.
• Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
• Nuclear Engineering.
• Ocean Engineering.
• Petroleum Engineering.
• Polymer/Plastics Engineering.
• Structural Engineering.
• Surveying Engineering.
• Systems Engineering.
• Textile Sciences and Engineering.
• Transportation and Highway Engineering.
• Water Resources Engineering.