Roles to Consider with an Engineering Management Master’s Degree
If you enjoy problem solving, leading projects, and creating things, a master’s degree in engineering management may be something that you have considered. An engineering management master’s degree can help to prepare you for a range of careers that involve construction, management, and technical design skills. A master’s degree in engineering management will teach both engineering and leadership skills to prepare you for these roles. These programs are designed to prepare professionals to work in more advanced engineering positions or managerial and leadership roles in engineering or related industries such as construction or architecture.
Most professionals who decide to get a master’s degree in engineering management will already have some work experience as an engineer. However, some students may be interested in immediately pursuing a master’s degree in engineering straight after graduating with their bachelor’s degree. If this field interests you, here are some job opportunities that you might be interested in that require a master’s degree in engineering management.
Why Study Engineering Management?
Statistics show that the field of engineering management is expected to grow in the future, particularly in areas such as environmental engineering, research and development, biomedical engineering, and architectural engineering. With competition expected to increase, companies are expected to prioritize hiring candidates that have advanced technical knowledge, expert financial and business management skills, and demonstrable communication and interpersonal skills. Studying for an engineering management master’s degree provides professionals with the ability to effectively utilize the financial, technical, and human resources at their disposal, along with providing an opportunity to build and develop important soft skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical thinking.
Director of Business Development
If you are currently working as an engineer and want to move into a management position, an engineering management online degree from Kettering University can land you a role as a director of business development. In this role, you will be responsible for bringing in new clients, finding product or service development opportunities, and increasing revenue. Directors of business development may help to develop marketing tactics, create long-term goals with business stakeholders, research gaps in the market or suggest and build strategic partnerships. This position is ideal for a graduate with a master’s degree in engineering management who is particularly interested in a business leadership role.
Firmware Engineer
Firmware is a certain type of software that is designed to rarely require updates or modifications. Firmware engineers work in a role where they are responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of firmware programs. This type of engineering requires both electrical engineering and software development knowledge. The main responsibilities include assessing the firmware needs of a business, designing new software systems, optimizing firmware application performance, and minimizing software errors.
Senior Electrical Engineer
A senior electrical engineer is responsible for designing, repairing, and helping to maintain systems that use electricity to run. This is a more advanced position within the field of electrical engineering, and a senior electrical engineer is often responsible for managing other engineers within their department or team, mentoring new hires and apprentices, and researching opportunities for further development.
Senior Chemical Engineer
The role of a senior chemical engineer involves understanding how to implement various chemical processes to create certain goods or materials. A chemical engineer will use this knowledge to develop systems for the refinement of raw materials, making sure that the chemical products are safe for human use and that chemical compounds are optimized. The role may also involve producing energy sources, fertilizers, fuel, medications and more. The role of a senior chemical engineer is more advanced, and may involve leading initiatives for development and research, supervising teams and projects, managing new chemical testing, and balancing the project or department budget.
Engineering Project Manager
An engineering project manager specializes in the management of projects that relate to engineering systems and equipment. Both project managers and engineering project managers are responsible for ensuring that teams are able to successfully complete the engineering projects that they work on. While a project manager will manage the daily, hands-on tasks that are involved in a certain project, an engineering project manager will supervise long-term or overall processes involved in the project such as assigning personnel, estimating costs, and directly communicating with the client regarding project updates, changes, or their expectations.
Hardware Engineer
Also known as a computer hardware engineer, these engineering professionals are responsible for the research, creation, evaluation, and monitoring of devices and systems related to computing hardware. Hardware is the physical parts of computer processes and devices including processors, routers, circuit boards and memory devices. The duties of a hardware engineer include overseeing the manufacturing of computer systems, helping businesses with the installation of new hardware, troubleshooting IT issues, and evaluating computer products.
Electronics Engineer
Electronics engineers work in a role where they are responsible for creating or maintaining electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, laptops, video game consoles, or television sets. The role of an electronics engineer may also involve responsibilities for designing, developing, testing, and repairing electronic devices. Typically, these engineers will also be required to have an in-depth understanding of other fields that will often overlap with electronic engineering such as mechanical engineering, IT, and computer science.
Electrical Engineer
Electrical engineers are tasked with planning, developing, testing, and optimizing systems and devices that use electricity. They may also handle electronic communications systems, power generation equipment, and other processes that use electronic elements or electricity. These professionals will often specialize in a certain field like signal processing, computer engineering, or radio-frequency engineering.
Plant Manager
A plant manager is responsible for supervising employees, methods, and equipment at a manufacturing plant. The primary goal of these professionals is to keep operational costs down and ensure that the production strategies are optimized as much as possible. Their main duties may involve providing employees with safety training, the creation or evaluation of performance reports, coordinating with distributors, and monitoring machinery.
Technical Consultant
The role of a technical consultant involves the creation or modification of IT systems for companies. Often, these are self-employed professionals who will work with different clients in a range of different industries. They are responsible for analyzing hardware component capabilities, tracking metrics for system performance, providing basic IT support management training to clients, and the implementation of emerging technologies into the client’s IT infrastructure.
Product Engineer
A product engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and overseeing the production of goods that are produced for the market. This is a type of mechanical engineering and may involve responsibilities such as testing prototypes for new products, using computer design software to create a visual representation of products, evaluation of potential risks during the product development stage, and coming up with new product ideas.
Technical Manager
A technical manager is tasked with leading initiatives and teams that related to technological developments. They need to have strong leadership abilities and various hard skills, which require more technical abilities and knowledge. While most technical managers will work in IT, they can also work in a range of other roles that require hard skills such as legal companies or departments, electronics, and accounting.
Automation Engineer
Automation engineers work in a role where they are responsible for handling the procedures and machinery related to automation, which refers to technology systems that can function with little to no human interaction. These engineering professionals will usually work on software programs and systems rather than directly with manufacturing equipment. Automation engineers are responsible for helping clients in a range of industries minimize defects in computing, troubleshoot issues and errors, and develop software. They are also often tasked with performing quality assurance tests for software programs, installing automation applications, and tracking system errors.
Application Engineer
The primary goal of an application engineer is to improve software systems and programs for their clients. This could include improvements that are focused on developing new software structures, optimizing existing software programs, or creating hardware components. The majority of applications engineers will work at application development firms who work with various clients from a range of different industries.
Process Engineer
A process engineer is responsible for supervising and managing the equipment and processes that are involved with automation at manufacturing facilities, in a similar role to automation engineers. The primary responsibility of the process engineer is to ensure that raw materials are successfully assembled into their correct final forms. Other duties and responsibilities may include reducing possible defects by optimizing manufacturing materials, increasing machine resources productivity, improving operational costs, and conducting maintenance tests.
Structural Engineer
A structural engineer is tasked with planning, designing, and constructing a construction project’s physical components, including aspects such as the foundation, columns, beams and arches. Structural engineers may calculate the weight loads of certain structural elements, acquire any needed permits before the construction can begin, and oversee the construction site. These professionals may be required to obtain a specific state license in structural engineering depending on where they want to work.
Construction Manager
A construction manager is responsible for the management of all the factors related to building construction. They will plan and oversee construction projects from the early development stage until they are completed. Typically, they are responsible for supervising and handling communications between construction crews, architects, engineers, building code managers and any other professionals involved in constructing buildings. Their duties involve ensuring that the project is compliant with any necessary regulations, creating and revising budget plans, and interpreting technical documents.
Business Analyst
A business analyst is responsible for evaluating the structures and procedures of a business. They focus broadly on evaluation and optimization of all business processes including departmental organization structures, budgets, and operations.
IT Manager
The role of an IT manager involves organizing, planning, and supervising personnel and systems that are related to IT. The role may involve creating tactics to improve IT network security, create training and development opportunities for new hires and current employees, coordinate IT initiatives with other IT employees, and optimize efficiency of various IT procedures and devices.
Systems Analyst
Similar to a business analyst, a systems analyst will evaluate the structures and procedures of an organization, but this role is much more heavily focused on IT. The systems analyst is responsible for evaluating the IT infrastructures of a business, including online networks or data storage centers. Their duties and responsibilities may include researching various new technologies to incorporate into the business, determining ways to improve the productivity of computing resources or procedures, or creating analysis reports about potential upgrades.
Project Engineer
A project engineer is responsible for overseeing and guiding teams for the duration of a certain project. Project engineers are required to have the ability to effectively lead a unified team and a solid understanding of the engineering principles related to the design and functionality of the project. Their duties will vary depending on the field of engineering that they work in. For example, a project engineer who works in electrical engineer may be responsible for optimizing the speed of a new electric car, while a project engineer working in civil engineering might be tasked with overseeing the development of a new road system.
Operations Manager
An operations manager is a professional working within an advanced position in the field of human resources. Their main responsibility is to optimize productivity, quality, and cost-efficiency of the various protocols and procedures within the business. They are responsible for overseeing department budgets, creating employee training processes, and managing inventory materials.
Architectural Project Manager
An architectural project manager will lead the design processes related to constructing various building types. They develop building plans, ensure that projects meet all regional and federal standards, and are responsible for communicating with all professionals involved in the design and construction of the building. An architectural project manager may work for an architecture firm, developer, government agency, or another organization. You will be required to obtain an architectural license if you have a master’s degree in engineering management and are interested in working in this role.
Whether you are already working as an engineer or are considering this field for your future, getting a master’s degree in engineering management can provide opportunities for many interesting roles.
