Technical Leadership
Leading through influence: mentoring, strategy, standards and org design.
Backend Engineer track
Junior
Write correct code, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
Nothing here yet.
Senior
Own a system, its failure modes, and its trade-offs.
Core: start here
- Managing Technical DebtTracking, prioritizing and paying down debt deliberately.
- MentoringHelping less experienced engineers grow.
- Technical Decision MakingGathering input, weighing trade-offs, deciding, and recording why.
8 more senior concepts
- Boring Technology / Innovation TokensSpending novelty sparingly and choosing proven tools by default.
- DelegationHanding off work in a way that grows others.
- Developer ExperienceHow easy and pleasant it is for engineers to do their work.
- HiringInterviewing and selecting engineers.
- Interviewing CandidatesRunning fair interviews that produce real signal.
- Managing UpKeeping your manager informed and aligned.
- Onboarding New EngineersHelping new teammates become productive.
- Technical LeadershipGuiding technical direction through influence and example.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across systems.
- Building ConsensusBringing people with different views to an agreement.
- Communicating with ExecutivesShort, decision-focused updates for leadership.
- Developer Productivity MetricsSPACE, DORA, and the danger of measuring the wrong thing.
- Engineering CultureThe shared values and habits that shape how a team builds.
- Evaluating New TechnologySeparating hype from what's worth adopting.
- Leading Large MigrationsMoving many teams off an old system.
- Platform ThinkingBuilding shared capabilities that make other teams faster.
- Risk ManagementIdentifying and mitigating what could derail a project.
- Setting Engineering StandardsDefining practices that many teams follow.
- SponsorshipUsing your influence to create opportunities for others.
- Team Cognitive LoadLimiting how much a team must understand to own its systems.
- Team TopologiesStream-aligned, platform, enabling and complicated-subsystem teams.
- Technical VisionA picture of where the technology should be in a few years.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
- Budget and HeadcountPlanning people and spending.
- Inverse Conway ManeuverDesigning team structure to get the architecture you want.
- Long-Term ThinkingMaking decisions whose payoff comes years later.
- Organization DesignStructuring teams and reporting lines.
- Technical Due DiligenceAssessing another company's technology, as in an acquisition.
- Technical StrategyA plan for reaching the vision under real constraints.
Data Analyst track
Junior
Write correct SQL, build trusted dashboards, ask good questions.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own an analysis end to end, from vague question to recommendation.
Nothing here yet.
Senior
Own experimentation and metrics design; call out bad numbers.
- HiringInterviewing and selecting engineers.
- Interviewing CandidatesRunning fair interviews that produce real signal.
- Onboarding New EngineersHelping new teammates become productive.
Staff
Shape how the organization measures and decides.
- Budget and HeadcountPlanning people and spending.
- Building ConsensusBringing people with different views to an agreement.
- Communicating with ExecutivesShort, decision-focused updates for leadership.
- Engineering CultureThe shared values and habits that shape how a team builds.
- Platform ThinkingBuilding shared capabilities that make other teams faster.
- Team TopologiesStream-aligned, platform, enabling and complicated-subsystem teams.
- Technical StrategyA plan for reaching the vision under real constraints.
Principal
Set measurement strategy across the company.
- Long-Term ThinkingMaking decisions whose payoff comes years later.
- Technical VisionA picture of where the technology should be in a few years.
Data Engineer track
Junior
Build and fix pipelines from clear specs; write correct SQL.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own pipelines and models end to end, including their quality.
Nothing here yet.
Senior
Design the platform's storage, processing and modeling choices.
Core: start here
- MentoringHelping less experienced engineers grow.
10 more senior concepts
- Boring Technology / Innovation TokensSpending novelty sparingly and choosing proven tools by default.
- DelegationHanding off work in a way that grows others.
- Developer ExperienceHow easy and pleasant it is for engineers to do their work.
- HiringInterviewing and selecting engineers.
- Interviewing CandidatesRunning fair interviews that produce real signal.
- Managing Technical DebtTracking, prioritizing and paying down debt deliberately.
- Managing UpKeeping your manager informed and aligned.
- Onboarding New EngineersHelping new teammates become productive.
- Technical Decision MakingGathering input, weighing trade-offs, deciding, and recording why.
- Technical LeadershipGuiding technical direction through influence and example.
Staff
Shape how the whole organization produces and uses data.
- Building ConsensusBringing people with different views to an agreement.
- Communicating with ExecutivesShort, decision-focused updates for leadership.
- Developer Productivity MetricsSPACE, DORA, and the danger of measuring the wrong thing.
- Engineering CultureThe shared values and habits that shape how a team builds.
- Evaluating New TechnologySeparating hype from what's worth adopting.
- Leading Large MigrationsMoving many teams off an old system.
- Platform ThinkingBuilding shared capabilities that make other teams faster.
- Risk ManagementIdentifying and mitigating what could derail a project.
- Setting Engineering StandardsDefining practices that many teams follow.
- SponsorshipUsing your influence to create opportunities for others.
- Team Cognitive LoadLimiting how much a team must understand to own its systems.
- Team TopologiesStream-aligned, platform, enabling and complicated-subsystem teams.
- Technical VisionA picture of where the technology should be in a few years.
Principal
Set data strategy and architecture across the company.
- Budget and HeadcountPlanning people and spending.
- Inverse Conway ManeuverDesigning team structure to get the architecture you want.
- Long-Term ThinkingMaking decisions whose payoff comes years later.
- Organization DesignStructuring teams and reporting lines.
- Technical Due DiligenceAssessing another company's technology, as in an acquisition.
- Technical StrategyA plan for reaching the vision under real constraints.
Frontend Engineer track
Junior
Build UI that works, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
Nothing here yet.
Senior
Own an app's architecture, performance, and failure modes.
Core: start here
- Managing Technical DebtTracking, prioritizing and paying down debt deliberately.
- MentoringHelping less experienced engineers grow.
- Technical Decision MakingGathering input, weighing trade-offs, deciding, and recording why.
8 more senior concepts
- Boring Technology / Innovation TokensSpending novelty sparingly and choosing proven tools by default.
- DelegationHanding off work in a way that grows others.
- Developer ExperienceHow easy and pleasant it is for engineers to do their work.
- HiringInterviewing and selecting engineers.
- Interviewing CandidatesRunning fair interviews that produce real signal.
- Managing UpKeeping your manager informed and aligned.
- Onboarding New EngineersHelping new teammates become productive.
- Technical LeadershipGuiding technical direction through influence and example.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across apps.
- Building ConsensusBringing people with different views to an agreement.
- Communicating with ExecutivesShort, decision-focused updates for leadership.
- Developer Productivity MetricsSPACE, DORA, and the danger of measuring the wrong thing.
- Engineering CultureThe shared values and habits that shape how a team builds.
- Evaluating New TechnologySeparating hype from what's worth adopting.
- Leading Large MigrationsMoving many teams off an old system.
- Platform ThinkingBuilding shared capabilities that make other teams faster.
- Risk ManagementIdentifying and mitigating what could derail a project.
- Setting Engineering StandardsDefining practices that many teams follow.
- SponsorshipUsing your influence to create opportunities for others.
- Team Cognitive LoadLimiting how much a team must understand to own its systems.
- Team TopologiesStream-aligned, platform, enabling and complicated-subsystem teams.
- Technical VisionA picture of where the technology should be in a few years.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
- Budget and HeadcountPlanning people and spending.
- Inverse Conway ManeuverDesigning team structure to get the architecture you want.
- Long-Term ThinkingMaking decisions whose payoff comes years later.
- Organization DesignStructuring teams and reporting lines.
- Technical Due DiligenceAssessing another company's technology, as in an acquisition.
- Technical StrategyA plan for reaching the vision under real constraints.