Competency Framework · v1.0

The standard we assess against.

Every EMA examination question maps to one of the five domains below. This framework is published in full so candidates know exactly what is assessed and employers know exactly what a credential means. Version 1.0 — June 2026.

The Five Domains

The blueprint is deliberately balanced: each domain carries equal weight (20%) in every examination. Engineering management fails at its weakest dimension — a brilliant strategist who cannot give feedback, or a beloved coach who cannot ship, is not yet the complete manager this credential certifies.

People Leadership

20% of exam

Building, growing, and retaining effective engineers and teams.

  • Delegation and ownership: matching scope to capability and growth
  • Feedback: timely, specific, behavior-anchored, in both directions
  • Hiring and onboarding: structured evaluation, calibrated standards
  • Performance management: expectations, support, and honest consequences
  • One-on-ones and career development conversations

Delivery & Execution

20% of exam

Turning intent into shipped, reliable software — predictably.

  • Prioritization under constraint: sequencing, trade-offs, saying no
  • Estimation, planning, and managing commitments honestly
  • Incident response and operational ownership
  • Managing scope, risk, and dependencies across workstreams
  • Process selection: applying the lightest process that works

Strategy & Vision

20% of exam

Connecting engineering work to business outcomes and direction.

  • Translating business goals into technical direction
  • Communicating decisions and trade-offs to non-engineering stakeholders
  • Roadmapping: balancing product delivery against platform investment
  • Resource allocation and build-vs-buy judgment
  • Setting and using meaningful engineering metrics

Technical Judgment

20% of exam

Exercising sound engineering judgment without doing the engineering.

  • Evaluating architectural decisions and their organizational consequences
  • Technical debt: recognizing, quantifying, and scheduling repayment
  • Code review culture and engineering quality standards
  • Staying technically credible while leading through others
  • Judging when to intervene technically — and when not to

Culture & Coaching

20% of exam

Shaping the environment in which good engineering happens.

  • Psychological safety and productive conflict
  • Coaching versus directing: developing judgment in others
  • Inclusive team practices and equitable opportunity distribution
  • Recognition, motivation, and sustainable pace
  • Modeling and reinforcing organizational values under pressure
How the Framework Scales by Tier

All three certifications assess the same five domains. What changes is the altitude of judgment required.

EMA-I
Associate
Applies the framework within a single team. Scenarios test first-line judgment: a struggling report, a slipping sprint, a conflict between quality and a deadline.
EMP-II
Professional
Applies the framework across teams. Scenarios test organisational judgment: competing priorities between squads, manager-of-managers situations, delivery systems at department scale.
EME-III
Expert
Applies the framework at organisational scale. Scenarios test executive judgment: strategy under ambiguity, large-scale change, building leadership systems rather than leading directly.
Versioning

The framework is versioned. Material changes produce a new version with a published changelog, and examinations always assess against the current version — one reason credentials carry a three-year validity. Feedback on the framework is welcome via the Contact page.

See how this framework becomes an examination —

Certification Standards →