We're a small (20 people, ~11 engineers) company that makes fairly niche high-tech sensing products/test equipment. Revenue is in the double-digit million neighborhood, and we sell mostly to OEMs
I've been with this company for about 3 years and have roughly 6 years experience in the industry. When I started there were about 10 employees (~4 engineers) and my job title was simply 'engineer'. Starting then, the organization of the company has been a little... free-form (I didn't really have a job description)... but we are rapidly starting to mature and add definition to everything (including job titles and roles). I quickly learned everything I could about our products and systems, and became quite expert
Right now I do anything ranging from product specification and strategy, configuration and BOM management, pricing, project/people management, test engineering, process definition, troubleshooting/customer support, sales strategy and support, applications engineering, market definition/voice of customer. I generally stay out of design, production, logistics/admin, quality, but even then I'm very much a generalist and get consulted on pretty much everything day-to-day. I'm very motivated and have tried to fill in anywhere I've seen need (and have been told I'm effective). We're still figuring our self out as a company. Other key roles already held by my colleagues: director of operations, chief engineer, production engineer
About a year ago I was promoted to the title 'Product Engineering Manager' -- in lieu of 'product manager' as the president wanted to highlight that I am still an engineer. Recently I've been offered another promotion and the company leadership is letting me help craft the role. I will likely slim down to a more focused approached on product specification/strategy, config/overall product management, project/people management. The promotion comes with a significant pay bump (putting me in the 150k range) and a leadership position on the org chart.
I don't know what to call myself. An older colleague suggested 'staff engineer', which apparently meant more back in his day, but now i think that sounds like an entry-level position. Other ideas have been thrown around but seem similarly out-of-touch: all the seniors at this company have been in this industry working for themselves for decades, so I have a feeling that job titles don't mean the same that they used to... I've always said that I don't care about job titles, but I am recognizing that titles can have direct monetary value and carry credibility when dealing with business partners.
I've been with this company for about 3 years and have roughly 6 years experience in the industry. When I started there were about 10 employees (~4 engineers) and my job title was simply 'engineer'. Starting then, the organization of the company has been a little... free-form (I didn't really have a job description)... but we are rapidly starting to mature and add definition to everything (including job titles and roles). I quickly learned everything I could about our products and systems, and became quite expert
Right now I do anything ranging from product specification and strategy, configuration and BOM management, pricing, project/people management, test engineering, process definition, troubleshooting/customer support, sales strategy and support, applications engineering, market definition/voice of customer. I generally stay out of design, production, logistics/admin, quality, but even then I'm very much a generalist and get consulted on pretty much everything day-to-day. I'm very motivated and have tried to fill in anywhere I've seen need (and have been told I'm effective). We're still figuring our self out as a company. Other key roles already held by my colleagues: director of operations, chief engineer, production engineer
About a year ago I was promoted to the title 'Product Engineering Manager' -- in lieu of 'product manager' as the president wanted to highlight that I am still an engineer. Recently I've been offered another promotion and the company leadership is letting me help craft the role. I will likely slim down to a more focused approached on product specification/strategy, config/overall product management, project/people management. The promotion comes with a significant pay bump (putting me in the 150k range) and a leadership position on the org chart.
I don't know what to call myself. An older colleague suggested 'staff engineer', which apparently meant more back in his day, but now i think that sounds like an entry-level position. Other ideas have been thrown around but seem similarly out-of-touch: all the seniors at this company have been in this industry working for themselves for decades, so I have a feeling that job titles don't mean the same that they used to... I've always said that I don't care about job titles, but I am recognizing that titles can have direct monetary value and carry credibility when dealing with business partners.
