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Understand more about the Lead Engineer career path
How can I become a Lead Engineer
- The most common career steps to get to Lead Engineer are Software Engineer, Engineering Director and Hardware Engineer based on actual career paths reported to Jobtrees.
- Software Engineer, the most common step before Lead Engineer, is of similar seniority which is common to see in career paths. People will often move between jobs and roles at the same level as they explore new types and gain experience for more senior roles.
- While Software Engineer is the most common, there is no specific role leading to Lead Engineer that is an overwhelmingly common path.
- Another characteristic of the Lead Engineer career path is that experience within the same job family as this role isn't common and as a result likely not necessary.
- This shows there are many potential paths to becoming a Lead Engineer so focusing on translatable skills is likely more important than a specific role.
- While Software Engineer isn't from the same job family as Lead Engineer, Engineering - General, it can help to have direct experience in this discipline shown by Engineering Director also being a common career path to Lead Engineer.
- If you are looking for more potential career paths to Lead Engineer, you should also consider Civil Engineer, Project Engineer and Principal Software Engineer as they commonly lead to Lead Engineer as well.
What should I know about the Lead Engineer career path
- The most common degrees or certifications earned by Jobtrees users on the path to become Lead Engineer are Bachelor Of Science (b.sc.) In Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor Of Science (b.sc.) In Computer Science, and Bachelor Of Science (b.sc.) In Civil Engineering. There may be other specific certification requirements to land a job with this role, so please make sure to check local regulations as well.
- Career paths aren't linear with people often returning to a prior role which is what you see with Software Engineer being on the path to and from Lead Engineer. This is common when people move companies where the title is the same as a past one but the scope may be different but also is commonly driven by them choosing to return to a function they fit well with.
- Lead Engineer is part of the Engineering - General job family which has a limited number of unique role types (43) within that discipline. Choosing to pursue a role within this family likely will mean that you will need to look outside of your discipline to find new roles and so should focus on related skills as part of that search.
- Other common titles that have similar job requirements and career paths as Lead Engineer are Engineering Lead.