Electrical engineer career path: from junior to lead engineer, engineering manager and head of engineering
Each step up the electrical engineering ladder, in electronics or in automation, from your first job after the degree to head of engineering or technical director: what changes, the gap to close, how to show it on your CV and in interviews, and a plan that fits next to lab work and site visits.
The cvscored team
Contents
The ladder at a glance
| Step | What you are measured on next | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Junior electrical engineer to electrical engineer | Circuits, boards or PLC programs released without close supervision | 2 to 3 years |
| Electrical engineer to senior electrical engineer | A product or plant system through its tests and approvals | 3 to 5 years |
| Senior electrical engineer to lead or principal engineer | Design reviews and technical choices for a team | 3 to 5 years |
| Lead or principal engineer to engineering manager | The people, workload and budget of a team | 2 to 4 years |
| Engineering manager to head of engineering or technical director | Every product, engineer and standard of the company | 4 or more years |
Titles differ between firms: hardware engineer, electronics developer, automation engineer, Elektroingenieur, staff engineer. In a small automation company the senior engineer may run the whole electrical department. Look at what a job answers for.
Quality is a ladder beside this one: electrical engineers who take over product approval, audits and the quality system of a plant can follow it from quality engineer to director of quality on the quality manager career paths.
Where electrics meet moving parts and PLC programs, the work becomes mechatronics; electrical engineers who like that mix will find its own steps on the mechatronics engineer career paths.
Electronics and software inventions need engineers who can read circuits and claims alike; the patent road from junior patent engineer to head of IP is on the patent engineer career paths.
Engineers who design circuit boards and product electronics rather than power systems climb from junior hardware engineer to head of hardware, on the hardware engineer career paths.
Engineers who work on solar and wind plants, grid connections, storage and energy savings rather than on installations climb from junior energy engineer to head of energy engineering, on the energy engineer career paths.
The first steps: junior to senior
Junior electrical engineer to electrical engineer
What changes: instead of drawing circuits or writing PLC code that a senior checks step by step, you design and release your own blocks: a power stage, a sensor interface, a machine section in PLCAsked in 9% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Program, test and commission PLCs, often Siemens S7 in TIA Portal, for machines and plants..
The gap: part choice with margins and worst-case checks, layout or program structure that passes review, test plansAsked in 8% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Plan and run tests of firmware and boards, from bring-up to the production test. for your own work, and the safety rules of your field.
On the CV and in interviews: the blocks you released and how they did in test. Expect a schematic or a program to review in the interview.
Plan (12 to 18 months, on the job): own one board or machine section from requirement to test; sit in the EMC or acceptance test of a product; learn one safety standard of your products in depth; keep notes of every review finding.
Electrical engineer to senior electrical engineer
What changes: you take a whole product or plant system through design, tests and approvals: EMC, safety, customer acceptance, and the handover to production or service.
The gap: system design across boards, power and firmware or across PLC, drives and safety, the certification process, FMEAAsked in 4% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Work inside the quality system: released schematics, change control, FMEA and 8D., planning your part of the projectAsked in 12% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Plan a development with its gates, keep the dates and the cost, and report the risks., and guiding juniors.
On the CV and in interviews: a product or plant you took through its tests, with figures: efficiency, test passes, commissioning days. Expect a system design case.
Plan (12 to 24 months): lead the electrical design of one product or line; run its FMEA and the certification with the test lab; review a junior's design every week; present the test results to the customer.
The steps up from senior electrical engineer
Senior electrical engineer to lead or principal engineer
What changes: you own the electrical quality of a team's output: reference designs, review checklists, the choice of key parts and platforms, and the decisions others build on.
The gap: reviewing designs you did not make, choosing platforms for years ahead, explaining technical riskAsked in 18% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Explain a design, a risk or a test result to colleagues who are not electrical engineers. to managers and customers, and turning repeated problems into standards.
On the CV and in interviews: the reviews you led, the platforms you chose and the problems they removed. Expect a deep technical interview and a design review exercise.
Plan (12 to 24 months): lead the schematic and layout reviews of a project; write one reference circuit or PLC library for the team; mentor two engineers; brief management on a technical risk.
Lead or principal engineer to engineering manager
What changes: you lead the engineers themselves: hiring, goals, yearly reviews, who works on what, and the budget for parts, lab equipment and test houses.
The gap: leading a teamAsked in 1% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Lead engineers: plan the work, review designs, coach and take the hard technical calls., planning capacity between new products and support, budgets for tests and tools, and hard conversations about performance.
On the CV and in interviews: a team you led, products delivered and engineers who grew. Expect questions on priorities, conflict and a project that slipped.
Plan (12 months or more): run the workload plan of a small group; lead its weekly meeting; hold yearly reviews with your manager beside you; take a course on leading people.
Engineering manager to head of engineering or technical director
What changes: all of engineering is yours: product road map, platforms, lab and test investment, the people and the budget, and the technical voice in the leadership team.
The gap: technology strategy, make-or-buy choices for electronics and software, leading managers, and presentingPresent a design review or test results to managers and customers in a few clear slides. risk and investment to the board.
On the CV and in interviews: the department you built, the platforms that carried several products, and the leaders you developed. Expect talks with owners or board members.
Plan (2 years or more): own the engineering budget; set a platform strategy with product management; build a lab or test capability; develop a successor.
Your CV for the next step
A hardware or automation lead hiring one level up wants to see that level in the work you do now. Three rules:
- Write the title you were hired under. Hardware engineer stays hardware engineer; the product you led through certification is shown in the lines beneath.
- Use the next level's words. A senior role wants "system design", "certification" and "FMEA"; a lead role wants "design reviews", "reference designs" and "platform"; a manager role wants "led a team of" and "resource planning".
- One result per line. Efficiency up, a test passed first time, commissioning shorter, a platform reused, or engineers developed.
| Skill | Weak line | Strong line, with proof |
|---|---|---|
| System design | Product development. | Led the electrical design of a charging station from concept to certification; CE and UL approval in 11 months. |
| Reference designs | Standardised designs. | Built 5 reference circuits now used in every new board; first-pass EMC results rose from 1 in 3 to 2 in 3. |
| PLCAsked in 9% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Program, test and commission PLCs, often Siemens S7 in TIA Portal, for machines and plants. library | Automation standards. | Wrote the team's PLC library and naming rules; site commissioning of new lines cut by a quarter. |
| TeamAsked in 1% of electrical engineer ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Lead engineers: plan the work, review designs, coach and take the hard technical calls. | Managed engineers. | Led 6 electrical engineers across electronics and automation; 2 moved up to senior within 2 years. |
Key takeaways
- The ladder runs junior, electrical engineer, senior, lead or principal engineer, engineering manager, then head of engineering or technical director.
- A senior takes a product or plant through its tests; a lead or principal sets the designs others build on.
- An engineering manager leads the engineers; a head of engineering answers for every product and platform.
- Show measured results at every step: efficiency, test passes, commissioning time, reuse.
- Add proof to your CV in the next level's words, one result per line.
Frequently asked questions
- What comes after senior electrical engineer?
- Lead or principal engineer for the technical path, engineering manager to lead people, then head of engineering or technical director.
- Can I stay technical and still move up?
- Yes. Many companies keep lead, principal or chief engineer roles. On this ladder they sit below the engineering manager, though some firms rank them equal.
- How long does it take to become a lead engineer?
- Often eight to twelve years after the degree; products taken through certification count more than years.
- Is electronics or automation better for moving up?
- Both lead up the same ladder. Electronics leads through products and platforms; automation through machines, plants and site work.
- What should the CV show for a head of engineering role?
- The department you led, the platforms and standards you set, the products launched and the leaders you developed.