Engineering Manager resume example
By Bhagirath Sheela, founder of JobCatch ·
An engineering manager's resume is judged on outcomes through other people: teams built, delivery improved, people grown and kept. It still needs enough technical depth to show you can hold an architecture discussion, but the bullets should mostly be about the team, not your code.
What recruiters look for
- Team size and scope: how many engineers, which systems
- Delivery and reliability results tied to business outcomes
- Hiring, promotions and retention
- Technical credibility: architecture decisions you led
Section order
With experience
- Summary
- Skills
- Experience
- Projects
- Education
- Certifications
Summary examples
Experienced
Engineering manager with eleven years in software and four leading teams. Manages 18 engineers across three teams on a lending platform; cut release lead time from two weeks to two days.
Skills, spelled the way postings spell them
An applicant tracking system matches the words in the job posting, and it does not reliably treat two spellings as one skill. The left column is the form most postings use; the right, other spellings people type. Use the posting's own spelling for each application, and list only what you can discuss in an interview.
| Skill | Also written as |
|---|---|
| Team leadership | Team management, People management |
| Stakeholder management | — |
| Agile methodology | Agile, Scrum, Kanban |
| Project management | Project planning |
| Microservices | Microservice architecture |
| AWS | Amazon Web Services |
| CI/CD | Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, CICD |
| JIRA | Atlassian Jira |
| Recruitment | Talent acquisition, Hiring, Sourcing |
| Process improvement | Process optimisation, Process optimization |
Also worth listing if you have them: Hiring and performance reviews, Roadmap planning.
Bullet examples
Each bullet says what you did and what changed because of it. Change the numbers to your own; a recruiter will ask about every one.
- Lead three teams (18 engineers) owning loan origination, underwriting and collections services.
- Cut release lead time from two weeks to two days by introducing trunk-based development and feature flags.
- Hired 14 engineers in a year, with 90% still on the team after eighteen months.
- Promoted four engineers to senior and one to staff, each with a written growth plan.
- Led the design review that moved underwriting to an event-driven architecture, halving decision time.
Mistakes to avoid
- Bullets about code you wrote. At this level, the reader wants what your team achieved.
- No numbers on people: team size, hiring, attrition, promotions. Those are your results.
- Dropping all technical detail. Managers are still interviewed on architecture; keep enough to prove it.
What an ATS reads from this sample
An applicant tracking system turns the PDF into plain text before anyone reads it. This is that text for the sample above, extracted by the same code as "What the ATS reads" in the app. Everything is in reading order, under the right heading, with the name and email intact — which is what a single-column template is for.
Suresh Pillai Engineering Manager [email protected] • +91 98765 43210 • Bengaluru, Karnataka • linkedin.com/in/sureshpillai Engineering manager with eleven years in software and four leading teams. Manages 18 engineers across three teams on a lending platform; cut release lead time from two weeks to two days. Leadership experience Engineering Manager, Creditly Fintech Jan 2022 – Present Bengaluru Lead three teams (18 engineers) owning loan origination, underwriting and collections services. Cut release lead time from two weeks to two days by introducing trunk-based development and feature flags. Hired 14 engineers in a year, with 90% still on the team after eighteen months. Senior Software Engineer / Tech Lead, Orbitkart Commerce Jun 2016 – Dec 2021 Bengaluru Promoted four engineers to senior and one to staff, each with a written growth plan. Led the design review that moved underwriting to an event-driven architecture, halving decision time. Selected projects Engineering ladder Wrote the company's engineering career ladder, used in reviews for 120 engineers. Education B.Tech, Computer Science 2010 – 2014 National Institute of Technology Calicut · 8.1 CGPA Expertise Team leadership · Stakeholder management · Agile methodology · Project management · Microservices · AWS · CI/CD · JIRA · Recruitment · Process improvement · Hiring and performance reviews · Roadmap planning Languages English, Hindi
Interview questions to prepare
The app's interview prep for this sample and a plain Engineering Manager posting. It works from the resume and the posting only, and tells you how to prepare, never what to say.
Questions every interview has
- Tell me about yourself. Two minutes: what you do now (Engineering Manager at Creditly Fintech), one result you are proud of, and why this role is next.
- Why do you want this job? Read their website and one recent piece of news before the call. Name something specific.
- Why are you leaving your current job? Say what you are moving towards. Do not criticise your employer.
- What is your notice period, and what salary are you expecting? Decide your number before the interview, so you are not deciding it on the call.
About the skills the job asks for
- Tell me about a time you used Microservices. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used AWS. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Project management. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Agile methodology. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Stakeholder management. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Team leadership. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
About what the resume claims
- You wrote: "Lead three teams (18 engineers) owning loan origination, underwriting and collections services." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
- You wrote: "Cut release lead time from two weeks to two days by introducing trunk-based development and feature flags." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
- You wrote: "Hired 14 engineers in a year, with 90% still on the team after eighteen months." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
Questions to ask them
- What would a good first three months in this role look like?
- Who would I work with most closely?
- What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear back?
Templates that suit this role
All of these are single-column and read cleanly by an applicant tracking system. Classic is free, with no watermark.
Questions
How long should an engineering manager's resume be?
Two pages is normal. Spend the first half of page one on your management years, and summarise early engineering roles in a few lines each.
Should an engineering manager list technical skills?
Yes, briefly: the stack your teams use and the architecture areas you know. A short list signals you can still go deep; a long one suggests you have not moved on.
Next: the Engineering Manager cover letter the app drafts from this resume, and how to show AWS on a resume.
More engineering resume examples: Software Engineer · Frontend Developer · Backend Developer · Full Stack Developer · React Developer · React Native Developer · Angular Developer · Node.js Developer · Java Developer · Python Developer · .NET Developer · Golang Developer · PHP Developer · Android Developer · iOS Developer · Flutter Developer · Mobile App Developer · Embedded Software Engineer · Solutions Architect