VP Product vs VP Engineering

What is the VP product vs VP engineering? You can have more awareness of this topic. If you want to understand more information, read this study.

What is the VP Product vs VP Engineering?

The VP of Product is interfacing more with sales, marketing, and executives who care about business things. Also, the VP of Engineering is interfacing more with engineers who care about technical things.

The VP Product is responsible for the product strategy and roadmap. They are also responsible for product marketing, pricing, and positioning. Also, the VP of Engineering is responsible for the technology strategy, roadmap, and execution. They are also responsible for development processes, scaling processes, and tools.

Both of these positions require a lot of communication to all levels of the organization and across both departments. Also, both of these positions require a lot of relationship building with the teams they lead and with other VPs across the company that they need to work with.

The VP of Product is more on top of the overall business side of things while the VP of Engineering is more on top of the overall technical side of things. This is clear just based on where their main responsibilities lie. 

Missions

The VP of Product is with ensuring that the product delivers the value the company and its customers expect. Also, the VP of Engineering is with ensuring that the team has all of the tools and processes it needs to develop high-quality products.

Responsibilities

The VP of Product is responsible for product strategy and roadmap. They are also responsible for product marketing, positioning, and pricing. 

The VP of Engineering is responsible for technology strategy, roadmap, and execution. They are also responsible for development processes, scaling processes, and tools.

Skills & Qualities Needed

The VP of Product should have excellent communication skills to interface with all of the different teams at all levels of the organization. Also, they should be excellent in relationship building with other VPs as they need to work together.

The VP of Engineering should have excellent communication skills as they need to interface with everyone on their team and with other VPs across the company. Also, they need excellent relationship-building skills to build a culture of excellence and trust among their team members. 

The VP of Product needs to be able to understand the business aspects of their company and be able to think about them in terms of a product. Also, they need to be able to think about the product from a customer’s perspective. 

Risks

The VP of Product and VP of Engineering are both very high-risk positions. If the product doesn’t deliver value to the business or if the product has quality issues, then the VP of Product will be responsible. 

On the other hand, if the team doesn’t have all of the tools it needs to develop high-quality products, then the VP of Engineering will be responsible. 

Conclusion

The VP Product and VP Engineering are two very different positions. If you are interested in one or both of these positions, keep in mind their main responsibilities and where they fit into the organizational structure.