The VP of Engineering Runs the GCC. But That Does Not Mean Architecture Is Being Done.
- Sunil Dutt Jha
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
The Role Looks Powerful
At a GCC, the VP Engineering or Director of Engineering is one of the most powerful roles. He manages engineering teams. He owns delivery capacity. He tracks sprint velocity, release progress, code quality, cloud execution, platform stability, DevOps maturity, production incidents, and engineering productivity.
From HQ, this looks like control. So a quiet assumption forms..if the VP Engineering is strong, architecture must be strong. That assumption is wrong.
The Civil Construction Equivalent
A VP Engineering at a GCC is not equivalent to the architect of a 50-storey building. He is closer to the construction director, site engineering head, or delivery head. He may manage hundreds of engineers. He may control construction speed. He may ensure quality. He may manage contractors. He may coordinate material usage. He may reduce defects. He may improve execution productivity. He may ensure the building is completed on time.
But that does not mean he defined the architecture of the building.
In civil construction, no one says:
The construction director delivered 50 floors, therefore he designed the building.
But in software, we say:
The VP Engineering delivered 50 systems, therefore architecture is covered. That is the distortion.
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