engineering-manager

name	engineering-manager
description	Engineering Manager skill for team leadership, 1-on-1s, performance reviews, hiring, career development, and technical team management. Use when managing engineering teams, conducting performance reviews, or planning team growth.

Engineering Manager

A comprehensive skill designed to support Engineering Managers in leading technical teams, developing talent, and balancing technical and people leadership responsibilities.

Quick Start

Basic Engineering Manager workflow:

# Build and lead team
# Conduct 1-on-1s
# Set goals and review performance
# Hire and onboard talent
# Foster team culture
# Remove blockers
# Drive technical excellence

Core Capabilities

1. Team Leadership

Lead and motivate engineering teams:

• Vision & Direction: Communicate team mission and goals
• Team Health: Monitor morale, engagement, and satisfaction
• Culture Building: Foster psychological safety and collaboration
• Conflict Resolution: Address interpersonal issues
• Decision Making: Guide technical and organizational decisions

2. One-on-One Meetings

Conduct effective 1-on-1s:

• Regular Cadence: Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins
• Two-Way Conversations: Balance listening and guiding
• Career Development: Discuss growth and aspirations
• Feedback: Provide timely, specific feedback
• Action Items: Track commitments and follow-ups

3. Performance Management

Evaluate and improve team performance:

• Goal Setting: Establish clear, measurable objectives
• Continuous Feedback: Regular check-ins, not just annual reviews
• Performance Reviews: Structured evaluation process
• PIPs: Address underperformance constructively
• Recognition: Celebrate wins and milestones

4. Hiring & Onboarding

Build strong teams:

• Job Descriptions: Define clear role requirements
• Interview Process: Structured, fair, and effective
• Candidate Evaluation: Assess technical and cultural fit
• Offer Negotiation: Competitive and fair compensation
• Onboarding: 30-60-90 day plans for new hires

5. Career Development

Grow team members' careers:

• Career Pathing: Define growth trajectories
• Skill Development: Identify learning opportunities
• Mentorship: Pair senior and junior engineers
• Promotions: Fair and transparent promotion process
• Succession Planning: Prepare team for leadership roles

6. Technical Oversight

Maintain technical excellence:

• Code Quality: Ensure high standards
• Architecture Reviews: Guide technical decisions
• Technical Debt: Balance features with maintenance
• Best Practices: Promote engineering excellence
• Innovation: Encourage experimentation and learning

One-on-One Templates

Standard 1-on-1 Agenda (30 minutes)

# 1-on-1: [Engineer Name] - [Date]

## Check-in (5 min)
- How are you doing personally?
- How was your weekend/week?
- Any immediate concerns?

## Current Work (10 min)
- What are you working on?
- Any blockers or challenges?
- Do you have what you need to be successful?
- Anything I can help with?

## Growth & Development (10 min)
- What did you learn this week/sprint?
- Any skills you want to develop?
- Projects or areas you're interested in?
- Feedback on recent work

## Wrap-up (5 min)
- Action items for both of us
- Anything else on your mind?
- Schedule next meeting

## Notes
[Manager's private notes]

## Action Items
- [ ] [Manager] Review promotion criteria for senior level
- [ ] [Engineer] Complete React course by end of month
- [ ] [Both] Schedule coffee chat with frontend team

Career Development 1-on-1

# Career Development Discussion: [Name]

## Current State
**Current Level**: Mid-level Software Engineer
**Time in Role**: 1.5 years
**Strengths**:
- Strong backend development skills
- Great code reviewer
- Mentors junior developers

**Growth Areas**:
- Frontend skills limited
- System design experience
- Public speaking/presenting

## Career Goals
**Short-term (6 months)**:
- Lead a full-stack project
- Present at team tech talk
- Improve TypeScript skills

**Medium-term (1-2 years)**:
- Promotion to Senior Engineer
- Mentor 2-3 junior engineers
- Contribute to architecture decisions

**Long-term (3-5 years)**:
- Staff Engineer or Team Lead
- Speak at external conference
- Build expertise in distributed systems

## Development Plan
1. **Q1 2025**: Assign to full-stack project (payment system)
2. **Q2 2025**: Schedule TypeScript training, pair with frontend engineer
3. **Q3 2025**: Lead architecture design for new feature
4. **Q4 2025**: Mid-year promotion review if ready

## Resources Needed
- Frontend mentorship from Sarah (2 hours/week)
- Access to system design courses (budget approved)
- Conference budget for 2025

## Success Metrics
- Complete 2 full-stack features
- Deliver 1 tech talk internally
- Receive positive feedback from 3+ peer reviews
- Demonstrate system design in architecture review

## Follow-up
- Review progress quarterly
- Adjust plan as needed based on business priorities
- Check in on motivation and engagement

Performance Review Templates

Annual Performance Review

# Annual Performance Review: [Name]
**Review Period**: Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2024
**Current Level**: Software Engineer II
**Manager**: [Your Name]

---

## Executive Summary

[Name] has had a strong year, delivering high-quality work on critical projects while growing as a technical leader. Promoted to Engineer II in June after consistently exceeding expectations. Ready for increased scope and responsibility.

**Overall Rating**: Exceeds Expectations (4/5)

---

## Goals Review

### Goal 1: Lead backend refactor of payment system
**Status**: ✅ Achieved
- Reduced latency by 40%
- Zero production incidents during migration
- Documented architecture for team
**Rating**: Exceeds (5/5)

### Goal 2: Mentor 2 junior engineers
**Status**: ✅ Achieved
- Mentored Alex and Jordan
- Both received positive feedback in their reviews
- Conducted 10+ pairing sessions
**Rating**: Meets (4/5)

### Goal 3: Improve test coverage to 80%
**Status**: ⚠️ Partially Achieved (reached 72%)
- Made significant progress
- Championed testing best practices
- Blocked by legacy code complexity
**Rating**: Meets (3/5)

---

## Core Competencies

### Technical Skills (5/5)
**Strengths**:
- Deep expertise in Python and FastAPI
- Strong understanding of distributed systems
- Excellent debugging and problem-solving

**Areas for Growth**:
- Frontend technologies (React, TypeScript)
- Cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP)

### Code Quality (4/5)
**Strengths**:
- Clean, well-documented code
- Thoughtful code reviews
- Proactive about refactoring

**Areas for Growth**:
- Sometimes over-engineers solutions
- Could balance perfection with velocity

### Communication (4/5)
**Strengths**:
- Clear written documentation
- Effective in 1-on-1s and small groups
- Great listener

**Areas for Growth**:
- Confidence presenting to larger audiences
- Speaking up more in meetings

### Collaboration (5/5)
**Strengths**:
- Excellent team player
- Helps others proactively
- Positive attitude even under pressure

**Areas for Growth**:
- None significant

### Leadership (4/5)
**Strengths**:
- Mentors junior engineers naturally
- Takes initiative on improvements
- Leads by example

**Areas for Growth**:
- Could take on more cross-team initiatives
- Develop strategic thinking

---

## Key Achievements

1. **Payment System Refactor** (Q2-Q3)
   - Led critical backend refactor
   - Impact: $50K/year in infrastructure savings
   
2. **Incident Response** (Q3)
   - Resolved critical production issue in 2 hours
   - Root cause analysis prevented future occurrences
   
3. **Onboarding Improvements** (Q4)
   - Revamped team onboarding documentation
   - Reduced new hire ramp-up time by 30%

---

## Peer Feedback Summary

**From Backend Team (5 responses)**:
- "Best code reviews on the team - thorough and kind"
- "Always willing to help, even when busy"
- "Great at explaining complex concepts"

**From Frontend Team (2 responses)**:
- "Easy to collaborate with across teams"
- "Responsive and reliable for API questions"

**From Junior Engineers**:
- "Patient mentor who takes time to teach"
- "Makes me feel comfortable asking 'dumb' questions"

---

## 2025 Goals

### Goal 1: Expand Technical Breadth
- Learn React and TypeScript (complete 2 frontend features)
- AWS certification (Solutions Architect Associate)
- Lead 1 cross-stack project

### Goal 2: Grow Leadership Impact
- Present 3 tech talks (1 internal, 2 external)
- Mentor 3 engineers (up from 2)
- Participate in 1 architecture decision

### Goal 3: Drive Team Excellence
- Increase team test coverage to 85%
- Lead initiative to reduce tech debt
- Contribute to engineering blog

---

## Compensation Changes

**Current Salary**: $120,000
**New Salary**: $132,000 (10% increase)
**Bonus**: $12,000 (10% of base)
**Equity**: 5,000 options (vesting over 4 years)

**Effective Date**: January 1, 2025

---

## Development Plan

**Q1 2025**:
- Enroll in React course
- Shadow frontend team for 1 week
- Start AWS certification prep

**Q2 2025**:
- Complete first full-stack feature
- Deliver internal tech talk
- Begin mentoring third engineer

**Q3 2025**:
- Submit CFP for external conference
- Lead architecture design session
- Mid-year check-in on goals

**Q4 2025**:
- Complete AWS certification
- Deliver external talk
- Evaluate readiness for Senior promotion

---

## Manager Comments

[Name] has been an outstanding contributor this year. Their technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and growth mindset make them a role model for the team. I'm excited to see them expand into full-stack development and take on more leadership opportunities.

Looking forward to supporting their continued growth in 2025.

---

## Employee Comments

[Space for employee to add their perspective]

---

**Signatures**:
- Manager: __________________ Date: __________
- Employee: __________________ Date: __________
- Skip-Level (VP Eng): __________________ Date: __________

Hiring Templates

Job Description Template

# Senior Backend Engineer

## About the Role

We're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our Platform team and help build scalable, reliable systems that power our product. You'll work on challenging problems in distributed systems, data processing, and API design while mentoring junior engineers.

## What You'll Do

- Design and build backend services using Python, FastAPI, and PostgreSQL
- Lead technical decisions for your squad (4-6 engineers)
- Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews and pairing
- Collaborate with product, design, and frontend teams
- Participate in on-call rotation (1 week every 6-8 weeks)
- Drive architectural improvements and technical debt reduction

## What We're Looking For

**Required**:
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
- Strong proficiency in Python and backend frameworks (FastAPI, Django, Flask)
- Experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)
- Understanding of distributed systems, caching, and message queues
- Track record of mentoring other engineers
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills

**Nice to Have**:
- Experience with AWS or GCP
- Knowledge of Kubernetes and containerization
- Frontend skills (React, TypeScript)
- Open source contributions
- Experience in high-growth startups

## Our Tech Stack

- **Backend**: Python 3.11, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy
- **Databases**: PostgreSQL, Redis
- **Infrastructure**: AWS (ECS, RDS, S3), Terraform
- **Messaging**: RabbitMQ, SQS
- **Observability**: DataDog, Sentry
- **Frontend**: React, TypeScript, Next.js

## Why Join Us?

- **Impact**: Work on products used by 100K+ users
- **Growth**: Budget for courses, conferences, and certifications
- **Flexibility**: Remote-first with flexible hours
- **Team**: Collaborative, supportive, and diverse team
- **Compensation**: $150K-$180K + equity + bonus

## Interview Process

1. **Phone Screen** (30 min): Chat with recruiter about background and interests
2. **Technical Screen** (60 min): Live coding with an engineer
3. **System Design** (60 min): Design a scalable system
4. **Team Interviews** (3 hours):
   - Code Review (45 min)
   - Behavioral (45 min)
   - Architectural Discussion (60 min)
   - Meet the Team (30 min)
5. **Offer Call** (30 min): Discuss compensation and start date

Total timeline: 1-2 weeks from application to offer

## How to Apply

Send your resume and a short note about why you're interested to [e-mail]. We review applications weekly.

---

**We're an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse team.**

Interview Scorecard

# Interview Scorecard: [Candidate Name]
**Position**: Senior Backend Engineer
**Interviewer**: [Your Name]
**Date**: [Date]
**Interview Type**: System Design

---

## Question Asked

"Design a URL shortener service like bit.ly that can handle 1 million requests per day"

---

## Evaluation Criteria

### Requirements Gathering (Weight: 20%)
**Score**: 4/5

- Asked clarifying questions about scale
- Discussed read vs write ratio
- Considered analytics requirements
- Missed asking about link expiration

### System Design (Weight: 30%)
**Score**: 5/5

- Proposed clear architecture (API, DB, Cache)
- Suggested Base62 encoding for short URLs
- Designed database schema efficiently
- Considered partitioning strategy

### Scalability (Weight: 25%)
**Score**: 4/5

- Identified caching as key optimization
- Suggested CDN for redirects
- Discussed horizontal scaling
- Could have elaborated more on sharding

### Trade-offs (Weight: 15%)
**Score**: 3/5

- Discussed SQL vs NoSQL trade-offs
- Mentioned consistency vs availability
- Less confident discussing CAP theorem

### Communication (Weight: 10%)
**Score**: 5/5

- Clear explanations
- Used diagrams effectively
- Responded well to feedback
- Good whiteboard presence

---

## Overall Assessment

**Weighted Score**: 4.2/5

**Strengths**:
- Strong system design fundamentals
- Pragmatic approach to trade-offs
- Clear communicator
- Handles feedback well

**Concerns**:
- Some gaps in distributed systems theory
- Could dive deeper on data consistency

**Recommendation**: ✅ Strong Hire

**Next Steps**:
- Proceed to team interviews
- Focus behavioral interview on leadership examples

---

## Notes

- Candidate has 6 years experience, mostly in startups
- Built similar shortener at previous company
- Expressed interest in mentoring juniors
- Available to start in 3 weeks
- Salary expectations: $160K-$170K

---

## Red Flags
- None

## Positive Signals
- Genuine enthusiasm for the role
- Asks thoughtful questions
- Cultural fit seems strong

Team Management Best Practices

Running Effective Team Meetings

Weekly Team Standup (15 min)

Format: Async written update + 15 min sync discussion

Written Update (Slack/Confluence):
- What I shipped last week
- What I'm working on this week
- Blockers or help needed

Sync Discussion:
- Celebrate wins
- Unblock team members
- Coordinate cross-person work
- Share learnings

Sprint Retrospective (60 min)

1. Set the Stage (5 min)
   - Prime directive: "Everyone did their best"
   
2. Gather Data (15 min)
   - What went well?
   - What didn't go well?
   - What puzzled us?

3. Generate Insights (20 min)
   - Group similar themes
   - Identify root causes
   - Vote on top issues

4. Decide Actions (15 min)
   - Pick 1-3 actionable improvements
   - Assign owners
   - Define success criteria

5. Close (5 min)
   - Recap action items
   - Thank team for participation

Building Psychological Safety

Actions to Encourage:

• Ask questions publicly to model vulnerability
• Thank people for raising concerns
• Admit your mistakes openly
• Say "I don't know" when you don't know
• Give credit to others publicly
• Handle mistakes as learning opportunities

Actions to Avoid:

• Blame individuals for failures
• Interrupt or talk over team members
• Dismiss concerns without discussion
• Play favorites
• Micromanage
• Take credit for others' work

Conflict Resolution Framework

1. Meet Privately (1-on-1 first)
   - Understand each perspective
   - Remain neutral and empathetic

2. Facilitate Discussion (if needed)
   - Bring parties together
   - Set ground rules for respectful dialogue
   - Focus on shared goals

3. Find Common Ground
   - Identify areas of agreement
   - Reframe as shared problem to solve

4. Agree on Path Forward
   - Define concrete actions
   - Set expectations for behavior
   - Schedule follow-up

5. Monitor and Follow Up
   - Check in with both parties
   - Ensure agreements are upheld

Career Development Frameworks

Engineering Ladder

LEVEL 1: Junior Engineer (0-2 years)
- Executes on well-defined tasks
- Learns team practices and tools
- Delivers features with guidance

LEVEL 2: Engineer (2-5 years)
- Independently delivers features
- Participates in design discussions
- Reviews others' code

LEVEL 3: Senior Engineer (5-8 years)
- Designs and delivers complex features
- Mentors junior engineers
- Influences technical decisions

LEVEL 4: Staff Engineer (8-12 years)
- Leads architectural initiatives
- Influences multiple teams
- Mentors engineers at all levels

LEVEL 5: Principal Engineer (12+ years)
- Sets technical strategy
- Influences company-wide decisions
- External thought leader

Promotion Guidelines

When to Promote:

• ✅ Consistently performing at next level for 6+ months
• ✅ Clear business impact at higher scope
• ✅ Demonstrated growth in new areas
• ✅ Team needs filled by promotion
• ✅ Budget available

When NOT to Promote:

• ❌ Tenure alone (time in role)
• ❌ To prevent attrition (retention tool)
• ❌ Based on single project success
• ❌ Under 6 months at current level
• ❌ Lacking skills for next level

Mentorship Framework

For Mentors:

• Meet with mentee weekly or bi-weekly
• Share experiences and lessons learned
• Provide career guidance
• Review code and design docs together
• Introduce to network

For Mentees:

• Come prepared with questions
• Set specific learning goals
• Act on feedback
• Share progress and challenges
• Build the relationship

Metrics & KPIs

Team Health Metrics

Engagement:
- Employee satisfaction score (quarterly survey)
- Retention rate (team attrition %)
- Glassdoor/Blind reviews

Productivity:
- Sprint velocity (stable or improving?)
- Cycle time (idea → production)
- Deployment frequency

Quality:
- Production incidents per month
- Escaped bugs
- Technical debt ratio

Growth:
- Promotion rate
- Skill development (certifications, training hours)
- Internal mobility

Individual Performance Indicators

Output:
- Features shipped
- Story points completed (context-dependent)
- Code commits (quality over quantity)

Quality:
- Code review feedback
- Bug rate in their code
- Test coverage contribution

Collaboration:
- Peer feedback
- Participation in discussions
- Helping others

Growth:
- New skills acquired
- Mentorship activities
- Technical talks or writing

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Team Member Underperforming

Steps:

1. Investigate root causes - Is it skills, motivation, personal issues, or unclear expectations?
2. Have direct conversation - Be specific about concerns
3. Create improvement plan - Set measurable goals with timeline (usually 30-60-90 days)
4. Provide support - Training, mentorship, reduced scope
5. Monitor progress - Weekly check-ins
6. Make decision - Continue, extend plan, or part ways

Sample Conversation:

"I want to talk about performance concerns I've observed. Over the last 2 months, 
you've missed 3 sprint commitments and the quality of your code has had more bugs 
than usual. Can you help me understand what's going on?"

[Listen to their perspective]

"Let's work together on a plan to get you back on track. Here's what I'm thinking..."

Scenario 2: Two Engineers Not Collaborating

Steps:

1. Meet with each separately to understand their perspective
2. Identify the core issue (communication style, technical disagreement, personality clash)
3. Facilitate a conversation if both are willing
4. Set clear expectations for professional behavior
5. Monitor interactions and follow up

Scenario 3: Engineer Wants to Switch Teams

Steps:

1. Understand their motivation (growth, interest, conflict?)
2. Discuss opportunities for growth in current team
3. If still interested, support their exploration
4. Facilitate conversations with other teams
5. Plan transition if move is approved
6. Maintain positive relationship

Scenario 4: Declining Job Offer Candidate

Template:

Subject: Update on your application to [Company]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us for the Senior Backend Engineer 
role. We really enjoyed learning about your experience and appreciated your thoughtful 
approach to the technical challenges.

After careful consideration, we've decided to move forward with other candidates 
whose experience more closely aligns with our immediate needs. Specifically, we're 
prioritizing candidates with deeper distributed systems experience for this particular role.

This was a competitive process, and your skills are impressive. We'd love to stay 
in touch for future opportunities that might be a better fit.

I'm happy to provide more detailed feedback if that would be helpful. Feel free to 
reach out if you have any questions.

Best of luck with your search!

[Your Name]

Resources

Books

• "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier
• "An Elegant Puzzle" by Will Larson
• "Radical Candor" by Kim Scott
• "High Output Management" by Andy Grove
• "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni

Communities

• Rands Leadership Slack: https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/
• Engineering Leadership: https://leaddev.com/
• Manager Tools Podcast: https://www.manager-tools.com/

Tools

• 1-on-1s: Fellow, Lattice, Small Improvements
• Performance Reviews: Lattice, Culture Amp, 15Five
• Hiring: Lever, Greenhouse, Ashby
• Team Surveys: Officevibe, TinyPulse, Culture Amp

---

Pro Tip: The best engineering managers balance empathy with accountability, technical judgment with people skills, and short-term execution with long-term team health.