Top Engineering Management books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Engineering Management books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Engineering Management

Understanding the concepts of Engineering Management starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs

Software startups make global headlines every day. As technology companies succeed and grow, so do their engineering departments. In your career, you'll may suddenly get the opportunity to lead teams: to become a manager. But this is often uncharted territory. How can you decide whether this career move is right for you? And if you do, what do you need to learn to succeed? Where do you start? …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Reliability-Centered Maintenance Second Edition (Volume 1)

Initially developed by the aviation industry, RCM is rapidly becoming fundamental to the practice of maintenance management and is now in use at hundreds of industrial and service organizations around the world. This book provides an authoritative and practical explanation of what RCM is and how it can be applied. It is of vital importance to anyone concerned with productivity, quality, safety…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Supply Chain Management For Dummies

Supply Chain Management For Dummies gives you the full rundown on what a supply chain is, how it works, how to optimize it, and the best education for a rewarding supply chain career. This new edition is fully updated for changes to the supply chain in a post-Covid world. You’ll learn about the latest supply chain technologies, analytics and data-based optimization, and new strategies for deli…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

Will Larson's An Elegant Puzzle orients around the particular challenges of engineering management--from sizing teams to technical debt to succession planning--and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Will Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management that leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes can apply. …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Manager's Path

From mentoring interns to working with senior staff, you’ll get actionable advice for approaching various obstacles in your path. This book is ideal whether you’re a new manager, a mentor, or a more experienced leader looking for fresh advice. Pick up this book and learn how to become a better manager and leader in your organization.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Toyota Kaizen Continuum

Written by a recognized leader in the manufacturing industry with nearly two decades of experience working for Toyota, this book supplies a firsthand account of the realities behind implementing the Toyota Production System (TPS). The Toyota Kaizen Continuum: A Practical Guide to Implementing Lean presents authoritative insight on how to use the TPS to drive operational value and improvement a…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Engineering Management Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Engineering Management, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

High output management

The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses—the art of the entrepreneur—can be summed up in a single word: managing. Born of Grove’s experiences at one of America’s leading technology companies (as CEO and employee number three at Intel), High Output Management is equally appropriate for sales managers, accountants, consultants, and teachers, as well as CEOs and startup foun…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Radical Candor

Radical Candor offers a guide to those bewildered or exhausted by management, written for bosses and those who manage bosses. Taken from years of the author’s experience, and distilled clearly giving actionable lessons to the reader; it shows managers how to be successful while retaining their humanity, finding meaning in their job, and creating an environment where people both love their work…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

Software startups make global headlines every day. As technology companies succeed and grow, so do their engineering departments. In your career, you'll may suddenly get the opportunity to lead teams: to become a manager. But this is often uncharted territory. How can you decide whether this career move is right for you? And if you do, what do you need to learn to succeed? Where do you start? …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Specializations and Deeper Engineering Management Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Engineering Management is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Certified Maintenance Manager (CMM) - Course Handbook & Exam Questions

An excellent and concise study companion to help you gain a better insight into your prospective area of study. Improves your chances of obtaining your qualifications with the help of the material in this guide, and sharpens your knowledge with handy practice questions.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts

Managing people is hard, and the industry as a whole is bad at it. Many managers lack the experience, training, tools, texts, and frameworks to do it well. From mentoring interns to working in senior management, this book will take you through the stages of management and provide actionable advice on how to approach the obstacles you’ll encounter as a technical manager.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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Augment your Engineering Management books

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

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I help you 1. Implement processes to deploy stress-free several times per day (without heroics) 2. Bring your team together by collaborative pairing and release planning 3. Grow highly capable, happy engineers who don't shy away from working with legacy code I coach leaders managing product engineering teams in engineering …

$80 / month

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Hi there! My name is Sebastiano, and I'm an experienced engineering leader with a passion for helping others grow in their careers. I'm currently an Engineering leader at Meta, I've previously served as a Director of Engineering at Upwork and held leadership roles at companies such as Pinterest, PayPal, Snap, …

$110 / month

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After 2 decades in Tech, leading software engineering teams at both Google, Microsoft, and studying coaching at Stanford, I would love to give back to the community, and spread my mentorship and coaching help to more engineers. Transforming someone's career and helping others unlock their true potentials, has been one …

$180 / month


Vikas is an accomplished engineering leader with 20+ years of experience, he has a proven track record of success in multiple leadership roles across startups and large organizations (Facebook, Amazon, Mastercard). Throughout his career, Vikas developed a deep understanding of the technical aspects of engineering, coupled with strong business acumen …

$270 / month

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I am a seasoned CTO with more than a decade of experience. But I am also a passionate developer and architect with even more years of experience. I am tech savvy and have an extensive software engineering background ranging from early stage start-ups to scale-ups with many teams in parallel. …

$240 / month

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I am a seasoned engineering leader with a strong background in software engineering with a demonstrated history of building high performing teams that develop hyperscale solutions in both consumer and enterprise space across different geographic markets. I have worked for startups, mid-size as well as large firms, which has given …

$210 / month

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  • "Naz is an amazing person and a wonderful mentor. She is supportive and knowledgeable with extensive practical experience. Having been a manager at Netflix, she also knows a ton about working with teams at scale. Highly recommended."

  • "Brandon has been supporting me with a software engineering job hunt and has provided amazing value with his industry knowledge, tips unique to my situation and support as I prepared for my interviews and applications."

  • "Sandrina helped me improve as an engineer. Looking back, I took a huge step, beyond my expectations."