2025 median annual pay
$175,140
Median for the whole occupation, across all experience levels. It is not specific to a level or to Brazil.
Career in 2026 and 2027
Engineering Manager
An Engineering Manager is accountable for a team's people, delivery and technical direction rather than for writing the code. The role grows from running a team's routines to shaping organisation, budget and influence.
Content reviewed on October 20, 2026
- Levels
- 4
- Skills mapped at Mid-level
- 8
What each level must prove
Mid-level
Accountable for the people on your team and for the technical choices they make together.
The work shifts from processes to individuals: regular conversations, honest feedback and growth. You also start to facilitate technical decisions and defend time for debt, without making them yourself.
Average score required: 72%
Hiring Process
Why: You can calibrate a hiring bar across interviewers and close a strong candidate against a competing offer, instead of only filling seats.
Onboarding
Why: You can improve onboarding from what recent hires struggled with, such as missing docs or slow environment setup, so each cohort ramps faster.
Sprint Planning
Why: You can protect the team from mid-sprint scope injection and negotiate with product when the plan no longer fits capacity.
Velocity Tracking
Why: You can use flow metrics to show product why a deadline is at risk and which bottleneck to fix, such as review queues.
One-on-Ones
Why: You can use a weekly one-on-one to notice that a strong engineer is disengaging, and act before they hand in their notice.
Feedback Culture
Why: You can give specific corrective feedback right after a missed handoff and make peer feedback routine, not an annual surprise.
Tech Debt Prioritization
Why: You can negotiate a fixed share of each sprint for debt by tying a specific item to slower delivery or repeated incidents.
Architecture Decisions
Why: You can get a contested design settled through an ADR and a design review, so the decision and its reasons are recorded for later.
Study for Engineering Manager: trails and practice exams
Each level of this career maps to a study trail. Read the full topic map for free, then measure your level.
Market snapshot (United States)
Projected job growth, 2025–2035
+16%
Much faster than average
Closest US occupation: Computer and Information Systems Managers. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, updated August 27, 2026
Two ways to move up one level
12 weeks · intensive
For whoever has a deadline
About 8 hours a week, in 1 cycle focused on the gaps that weigh most.
40 weeks · regular
Alongside work
About 4 hours a week, in 3 cycles. Each cycle carries what was left from the previous one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Engineering Manager?
An Engineering Manager is accountable for a team's people, delivery and technical direction rather than for writing the code. The role grows from running a team's routines to shaping organisation, budget and influence.
What must each level of Engineering Manager prove?
Engineering Manager is mapped in 4 levels: Junior, Mid-level, Senior, and Expert. Open each level above to see the skills it must prove.
How long does the Engineering Manager plan take?
The plan has 2 paces: 12 weeks per level at about 8 hours a week (intensive) and 40 weeks per level at about 4 hours a week (regular).
How the plan works
AI tutor
A study session on each new topic, at your level.
AI school
Hands-on lessons on using AI in your career's daily work.
Assessments
Each requirement is proven by measurement, not by a checkbox.
Stage review
At the end of each cycle you see what moved and what carries over.
Find out which level you are at
A short diagnostic measures the skills you already have. The journey starts from there.