At most technology companies, a developer would reach Senior Engineer in 5 to 8 years. It is at this level that you start to wonder about your next step. The move from junior to senior feels like a natural progression as you become better at your work. But what comes after the senior level?
For a long time, when Vietnam was deep in the outsourcing business where money was made by doing the same thing cheaper and faster - not by doing harder things, the only option was to move into engineering management. The path is not easy but it is a well-understood role, comes with navigation maps, and is a popular career choice.
If you are curious about engineering management, there are plenty of books you can read, here are 3 examples:
- Peopleware
- Management 3.0
- Behind closed doors
But what if you want to advance your career without becoming an engineer manager? It is important to understand that human leadership is not the only form of leadership. Among the alternatives is Technical Leadership.
With the technology industry maturing, companies are recognizing that one does not have to lead others to be a force multiplier. There are tremendous values in finding and nurturing engineers who have a knack for driving technical strategy, leading technical investment that cross teams and organizations, and raising everybody’s game by modeling what good engineering looks like. There is also a huge amount of accountability involved in the role with respect to both the product and the technology, as the technical leadership shapes the core technologies and in turn dictates the advantages and disadvantage of the product as the whole.
At Parcel Perform, we show our support for our most senior engineers with the Staff Engineer position. The Staff Engineers here are responsible for the success of a specific technical domain within the company, for example, API design, micro frontend, storage strategy, or cloud infrastructure. For a domain to merit a Staff Engineer, it must be both complex and central to the company’s success. Our Staff Engineers dedicate their energy to maintain an intimate understanding of the business’ needs, the users’ goals, and the relevant technical constraints. They use that insight to identify and advocate for effective approaches within their domain, and do it with the organizational authority that is entrusted to them. In this way, we can support our senior engineers to pursue engineering management or continue down the path of technical excellence to become a Staff Engineer.
This has opened doors for us, but also presented new challenges. Many engineers and managers have never worked with an effective Staff Engineer before so there are some expectations to be managed. We were lucky that the few Staff Engineers we have have been very open about their priorities and concerns to build alignment. They form rapport and partnership throughout the organization and help disputing the myth of a tyrannical architect. They work through the fear of the managers - burned by disaster from their previous jobs - of what could go wrong, and create excitement for how much can go right.
The Staff Engineer journey is still very much new at Parcel Perform. It is not rosy. It takes dedicated effort and passion to earn the trust from our competitive tech team. Yet at the same time it is inspiring, it is the testament that business doesn’t always direct technology. Business might direct mediocre technology, but good technology opens new business opportunities. And that is exactly what we are striving for.
