Think of your favorite restaurant.

No one role makes it successful, not even managers. In that regard, it needs a kitchen manager, general manager, food and beverage manager, and so on. Software development companies are the same, needing:

  • Chief technical officers (CTOs)
  • Engineering managers (EMs)
  • Project managers (PMs)
  • And more

But having different managers can also be confusing.

It’s easy to mix up management roles

Not immediately knowing the differences between a CTO, EM, and PM is understandable, even more so in smaller companies where managers double up on roles.

You may, for example, get a CTO who also manages engineers. This can lead you to think all managers are the same, and you might not immediately understand each manager’s different responsibilities.

It is okay to approach the wrong manager with a task or question, though — more likely than not, they’ll help or direct you to someone who can. But if you’re considering management, there is value in understanding who does what.

Without such an understanding, you or others can:

  • Get overwhelmed
  • Lose focus
  • Struggle with productivity
  • Get distracted more

To think of it another way, imagine if the kitchen manager tried running the kitchen and the front of the restaurant at the same time. This can work in an emergency, but they’ll burn out and falter in their duties over time. It’s better if they specialize and stay that way, and the same is true of technical managers like CTOs, EMs, and PMs.

The CTO

What unites your CTO’s duties is a high-level approach to how tech and business support each other.

As a result, CTOs carry more responsibility than other managers, including:

  • Developing the company’s tech strategy
  • Seeing that strategy through
  • Keeping relevant business goals in mind

This is why startups fill the position as fast as possible. This is also why CTOs in smaller companies can wear many hats at first, even acting as a PM or EM. But these roles will (and should) split off as companies scale, letting the CTO focus on defining the company’s direction.

As the company scales, CTOs regularly work with managers and executives, including:

  • The CFO
  • The CEO
  • EMs and PMs
  • Sales and marketing teams
  • The board of directors

They also provide internal tech advice and oversight for product development and engineering, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Additionally, part of their job is figuring out how to use new tech in these and other areas to help your company reach its goals.

But the reverse is also true. Think about the game-changing AI developments that have been happening every week for the past two years. Your CTO will have been (and still is) knee-deep in R&D, figuring out how to leverage these developments into new opportunities.

Being forward-thinking also means CTOs know what staff their companies need. As such, they will often get involved in filling key positions.

The project manager

A dedicated parent makes sure their kid has food on the table, gets a good education, and has fun with their friends. They work with many service providers to ensure their child’s well-being and growth.

Project managers do the same with projects and features. However, PMs do not typically have a deep technical understanding of the processes. In this way, they’re like parents arranging their child’s activities without knowing much about what they’re learning.

Instead, PMs spend a lot of time:

  • Setting deadlines
  • Scheduling tasks
  • Delegating who works on what
  • Adjusting milestones in case of delays
  • Resolving communication issues
  • Coordinating with other teams to ensure goal alignment
  • Communicating progress to teams and other stakeholders

In short, project managers work with different teams to ensure people have everything they need to complete projects well and on time.

The engineering manager

PMs focus on planning and feature delivery, but EMs pay attention to the technical aspects of the process.

This means they focus on tasks like:

  • Quality control, particularly with regard to code quality
  • Technical execution
  • Balancing UX design with technical feasibility and complexity
  • Software architecture design
  • Mitigating technical risk

Another important part of their job is knowing their engineers and what they’re capable of. They know who can do what, and they know the details of the technical process — expertise coming from having been engineers themselves. So they can advise PMs and other team members about navigating technical tasks most effectively as well as help them see issues they might not notice.

EMs also invest in building long-term relationships with their engineers. This gives them insight into which engineers should work on which projects and work well together.

They will also mentor engineers, helping their growth and development. This means they can and should be involved in “softer” activities like:

  • Mentoring
  • Resolving conflicts
  • Performance reviews
  • Suggestions for professional development

So, not only do they have a solid grasp of the team’s strengths and weaknesses, but they will also nudge engineers to develop the skills they may lack. This awareness of the team’s technical abilities means they can (and should) be more involved in the hiring process and who gets assigned what work.

The short version of these differences

Knowing the differences between chief technical officers (CTOs), project managers (PMs), and engineering managers (EMs) can be confusing. This is especially true in small companies or startups, where one person may take on multiple roles until they scale up and the jobs are separated.

Still, knowing these differences is key to optimizing workflow and building a successful career.

Here’s who does what:

  • CTOs think about the “why”: keeping an eye on the big picture and aligning a company’s tech practices with its broader business goals
  • Project managers think about the “when”: coordinating work on particular features and ensuring people have what they need to get projects done on time and well
  • Engineering managers think about the “how”: including offering technical advice to other managers, suggesting which engineers should do what tasks, and facilitating engineer growth

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Originally published on Medium.com