5 Critical Missteps to Avoid When Hiring a VP of Engineering

Written By Crae Murdock

Hiring a VP of Engineering is one of the most consequential decisions a founder or CEO will make. It’s not just about scaling a team or delivering clean code, it’s about setting the technical tone for your company, aligning product with execution, and building infrastructure that lasts.

But this hire is often misunderstood. Whether you're making your first senior tech hire post-Series A or replacing a co-founder who’s been wearing too many hats, here are five common missteps to avoid:

1. Hiring a CTO When You Really Need a VP (and Vice Versa)

This is mistake number one: confusing a strategic technology visionary (CTO) with a technical execution leader (VP of Engineering).

  • A CTO sets long-term product and tech direction, experiments with future architecture, and often spends more time on vision, investor conversations, and R&D.

  • A VP of Engineering manages engineering execution: recruiting, delivery, scaling, team performance, systems, processes, and quality.

If your product roadmap is clear but delivery is a bottleneck, you probably need a VP, not a CTO. Hiring the wrong role often leads to culture misalignment, delivery issues, or a frustrated team.

Tip: Write two versions of the job spec. One visionary, one operational. Which one actually maps to what you need now?

2. Expecting the Same Level of Hands-On Coding Across the Board

Do you want someone who still codes 30% of the time? Or someone who knows how to manage people who do?

Many early-stage companies want a unicorn who can lead, architect, recruit, and ship code. But expecting too much hands-on work from a senior leader often blocks delegation, slows delivery, and confuses team structure.

Good Practice: Define the hands-on vs. hands-off ratio before hiring. If you expect full-stack contribution, say so. If not, optimise for leadership and delegation.

3. Ignoring the Product Interface

A VP of Engineering doesn’t work in isolation. The relationship with your Head of Product (or CPO) is critical.

Does your engineering leader believe in rapid iteration? Are they comfortable in ambiguity? Can they build process around creative, shifting priorities?

Red flag: Someone who treats product as a separate "customer" rather than a collaborative partner.

Green flag: VPs who embrace tension, understand tradeoffs, and push for clarity without ego.

4. Hiring Too Early (or Too Late)

There’s a window when a VP of Engineering makes sense:

  • Too early? You end up with overkill process, demotivated engineers, and high burn.

  • Too late? Your team is scrambling, morale is low, and tech debt is rampant.

Signs you’re ready:

  • You’re past 5 engineers.

  • Your founder is drowning in tech leadership.

  • You’re preparing for scale, internationalisation, or re-architecture.

If you hire too late, your VP becomes a firefighter. If you hire too early, they become bored or overbearing.

5. Failing to Align on What Success Looks Like

The best VPs want a clear scorecard. What are they being hired to do in the first 6 months?

  • Is it building a hiring plan?

  • Stabilising a monolith?

  • Reducing churn by improving engineering velocity?

Bad example: "We just want someone experienced."

Better: "We need someone who can grow the team from 7 to 20 without losing quality, and reduce deploy time from once a week to daily."

Final Thought

Hiring a VP of Engineering isn’t about getting someone with the flashiest CV. It’s about fit, timing, clarity, and leadership style. The best candidates know what kind of company they thrive in. Your job is to know the kind of leader you actually need.

If you’re unsure where to start, it might be time to talk. At FYN, we help founders get this hire right, quietly, carefully, and without compromise.

Crae Murdock