Engineering Manager
Engineering managers lead teams, drive hiring, deliver performance reviews, and translate business strategy into engineering priorities. This path focuses on the professional English for high-stakes conversations: feedback, promotions, roadmap negotiation, and executive communication.
Topics covered
- Performance conversations
- Hiring & interviews
- Technical roadmaps
- Team health & culture
- Stakeholder management
- Engineering strategy
Vocabulary spotlight
4 terms every Engineering Manager should know in English:
The number of direct reports an individual manager is responsible for
"A span of control above 10 makes it hard to give each engineer enough attention."
A structured formal process for an underperforming employee to meet specific expectations
"Putting someone on a PIP is a last resort — coaching should come first."
The approved number of people or positions on a team or project
"We got headcount for two senior engineers in Q3."
The process of determining and aligning engineer job levels across the organisation
"The levelling exercise surfaced three engineers who were under-levelled."
📚 Vocabulary Reference
Key terms organised by category for Engineering Managers:
People Management
Hiring
Strategy & Planning
Leadership
Recommended exercises
Real-world scenarios you'll practise
- Delivering a difficult performance review to a senior engineer
- Negotiating headcount and roadmap priorities with a VP of Product
- Writing a promotion document to justify levelling up an engineer
- Communicating a team reorg to affected engineers with empathy and clarity
🎯 Interview questions specific to this role
Practise answering these questions out loud — or in writing. Each question targets a real interviewer concern for Engineering Managers.
- How do you balance technical work with your management responsibilities?
- Describe a time you had a difficult conversation with an underperforming engineer.
- How do you set and communicate engineering priorities to your team?
- What does a healthy engineering team culture look like to you?
- How do you advocate for your team's technical needs to non-technical leadership?