There are three big differences. First, to be effective in the role, a VPE must have a much stronger social and communication skills. Most engineers, as a side effect of how they spend their waking hours, are below average in this area. The VPE must be far above average.
Second, the VPE must have a larger focus - seeing what's good for the entire company, not just what's good for engineering, and certainly more than what's good for the current projects. Often a straight up engineer will be (quite properly) focused mainly on whatever their current project is, and may not even have the business knowledge to fully grok how it fits in the big picture.
Lastly, the VPE needs exceptional management and leadership skills. A tech lead will have this too, but it must be much stronger at the veep level.
Comments
There are three big differences. First, to be effective in the role, a VPE must have a much stronger social and communication skills. Most engineers, as a side effect of how they spend their waking hours, are below average in this area. The VPE must be far above average.
Second, the VPE must have a larger focus - seeing what's good for the entire company, not just what's good for engineering, and certainly more than what's good for the current projects. Often a straight up engineer will be (quite properly) focused mainly on whatever their current project is, and may not even have the business knowledge to fully grok how it fits in the big picture.
Lastly, the VPE needs exceptional management and leadership skills. A tech lead will have this too, but it must be much stronger at the veep level.