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Career

Team lead, tech lead, engineering manager

Work about people and the flow of tasks. Not a developer's next level but a different profession.

Roles and moves Self-assessment

Step 2 of 2 · Team lead, tech lead, engineering manager

Which level inside the role?

Where people go from here: Backend developer, Product manager, Architect, Frontend developer

Not sure — open the whole role card Pick another role

  1. Tech lead
  2. Team lead and engineering manager
  3. Group engineering manager
  4. Head of engineering
  5. Director of engineering and CTO

Tech lead

Straight to the self-check

What you answer for changes: not your own code but the fact that the technical decisions of the team can be explained and will outlive you.

Do now

  • I write the next technical decision down so that people can argue about it without meThe decision lives in the repository rather than in my head.
  • I take myself out of the bottleneck in reviewA review does not wait for me, and the shared standard lives in the linter and in the pipeline.
  • I collect technical debt into a list with consequences and put it in the schedulePeople argue about the debt from the list rather than through complaints.
  • I hand over a stretch task and do not take it backThe person carries it through themselves, and I am beside them rather than instead of them.

Where next

Team lead and engineering manager

Sideways out of the role

What this step asks of you

  • I set the technical direction and explain it to the teamThe decisions are written down, and people can argue about them without me.
  • I hold the quality bar without becoming the bottleneckA review does not wait a day for me, and the standard lives in the linter and in CI.
  • I manage technical debt as a plan, not as a complaintThe debt has a list, an assessment of its consequences and a slot in the schedule.
  • I grow people through work, not through adviceI hand over a stretch task and stay nearby instead of taking it back on the second day.

Common mistakes

  • Staying the fastest developer on the team: the tasks come back to you and people stop growing.
  • Deciding alone and announcing the decision as final: people will work around it in silence.
  • Hoarding technical debt as a complaint: with no list and no consequences nobody will pay for it.

What to learn

  1. Tech lead
  2. Team lead and engineering manager
  3. Group engineering manager
  4. Head of engineering
  5. Director of engineering and CTO

Team lead and engineering manager

Straight to the self-check

The measure of your work changes: it used to be visible in code and decisions, and now it shows only in what other people do.

Do now

  • I hold regular one-on-one meetings and am not the first to cancel themPeople bring their problems in before they write a resignation letter.
  • I say the unpleasant thing in time and in personThere are no surprises for the person at the performance review.
  • I delegate the authority to decide along with the workThe task leaves my hands whole, and I do not redo it at night.
  • I look at how long a task takes to get through rather than at how busy people areWe discuss the flow rather than the number of tickets closed.
  • I run an interview about the work rather than about general knowledgeThe candidate does what we actually do here and gets an answer on time.

Where next

Group engineering manager

Sideways out of the role

What this step asks of you

  • I hold regular one-on-one meetings where people tell the truthPeople bring their problems in before they hand in their notice.
  • I give feedback in time, including the unpleasant kindThere are no surprises at the performance review.
  • I delegate the authority along with the work, not only the responsibilityThe task leaves my hands whole, and I do not redo it at night.
  • I look at the flow of work, not at how busy people areI measure how long a task takes to get through, not the number of tickets closed.
  • I hire and run interviews I am not ashamed ofMy interviews check the work, not general knowledge, and the candidate gets an answer on time.

Common mistakes

  • Staying the technical authority and deciding for the team: people lose the right to make mistakes, and you lose your time.
  • Saving feedback up for the performance review: it is too late to change anything, and the conversation turns into a verdict.
  • Delegating responsibility without authority: the person answers for what they cannot control.

What to learn

  1. Tech lead
  2. Team lead and engineering manager
  3. Group engineering manager
  4. Head of engineering
  5. Director of engineering and CTO

Group engineering manager

Straight to the self-check

The distance to the work changes: a lead now stands between you and the engineer, and a word over their head breaks their job.

Do now

  • I agree with each lead what is theirs to decide, and I do not step into itWhat the lead decides and what I decide is written down, and I refer to it.
  • I bring the leads together instead of being their postboxTwo teams reach an agreement without me.
  • I look at the flow of each team and find where it stands stillI can name the place where work waits longest and the reason for it.
  • I bring a new lead into the job and agree how we will check in with each otherThey have made their first decisions themselves.

Where next

Head of engineering

Sideways out of the role

What this step asks of you

  • I work through the leads rather than over the heads of their teamsEngineers come to me for context and take their decisions with their own lead.
  • I take dependencies between teams apart before they turn into a missed deadlineI know who is waiting for whom, and we discuss it in advance rather than at a post-mortem.
  • I plan the work of several teams without handing out tasks myselfEach team picks up its own work against a shared goal and knows what it is for.
  • I bring new leads into the job and do not leave them alone with the teamA new lead knows what is expected of them and has somebody to check in with.
  • I take on the conflicts the leads could not settle themselvesThe sides leave with a decision rather than with a feeling of having been judged.

Common mistakes

  • Running the teams over the heads of their leads: the lead turns into a relay, and the team stops listening to them.
  • Staying the best team lead in the group: your own former team gets the attention and the neighbouring ones get silence.
  • Collecting statuses instead of removing obstacles: there are more meetings and the flow is the same.

What to learn

  1. Tech lead
  2. Team lead and engineering manager
  3. Group engineering manager
  4. Head of engineering
  5. Director of engineering and CTO

Head of engineering

Straight to the self-check

The lever changes: you no longer run the teams directly — you set the structure, the rules and the money they live by.

Do now

  • I check the split into teams against the dependencies rather than against the org chartI can name the links the chosen split has created and who is hurt by them.
  • I add an element of process only against a named problemFor every ritual I can say what would happen if it were removed.
  • I talk to the business in deadlines and money rather than in tasksMy promises and my budget meet what actually came out.
  • I watch the load on the teams and take heroics out of the planOvertime is not built into the schedule as a resource.

Where next

Director of engineering and CTO

Sideways out of the role

What this step asks of you

  • I design the boundaries between teams, not only their compositionI understand which dependencies between teams the chosen split has created.
  • I fit the process to the context instead of rolling out a framework wholeI can explain which specific problem each element of the process solves.
  • I talk to the business in the language of money and deadlinesMy budget and my promises meet reality more often than they miss it.
  • I keep the load on the team at a level that can be held for yearsWe have no heroics as the norm and no overtime as a planned resource.

Common mistakes

  • Rolling a framework out whole: the teams perform the rituals and the original problem stays.
  • Changing the structure to fix relationships: the dependencies simply move along with the people.
  • Keeping engineering apart from money: the budget is cut by people you never explained the spending to.

What to learn

  1. Tech lead
  2. Team lead and engineering manager
  3. Group engineering manager
  4. Head of engineering
  5. Director of engineering and CTO

Director of engineering and CTO

Straight to the self-check

The person across the table changes: the argument is no longer with the teams but with the rest of the company, and it is settled by money and risk.

Do now

  • I write the technical bet down together with the conditions under which we would drop itThe bet is discussed from the document rather than from the mood in the room.
  • I bring the conversation about budget down to risk and revenueI can explain to the finance director what we lose if this line is cut.
  • I let the managers decide and go through the consequences with them rather than the tasksMy meetings with them are about decisions rather than statuses.
  • I check what backs every commitment we make to the outside worldA commitment has somebody answering for it and a way to verify it.

Where next

Not another step — a fork

Sideways out of the role

What this step asks of you

  • I hold a technical bet that survives a change of peopleI can explain why we invested here and what we will do if the bet does not pay off.
  • I defend the engineering budget in front of people who see it as a costI talk about the spending in the language of revenue and risk rather than as a list of tasks.
  • I hire and change managers, not only engineersI make the decisions about people in time instead of dragging them out until the team leaves.
  • I answer for what the company commits to on the outside: availability, data, the lawI know what we committed to for customers and the regulator and what backs it.

Common mistakes

  • Staying the chief engineer: the company gets an architect instead of a director, and the managers get a supervisor.
  • Committing to deadlines on behalf of teams you never asked: the commitment is paid for in overtime.
  • Treating culture as a consequence of slogans: people read the decisions made about people, not the text on the wall.

What to learn

IT Tools source · GPL-3.0 Digitable Chat source · GPL-2.0-or-later Legal documents