An Framework for Promotion to Senior Engineering Manager

Overview

In the past on this blog, I have written about a framework for promotion to Staff Software Engineer. Similar to a staff engineer position, a Senior Engineering Manager, as the name suggests, is a very senior role in the engineering organization. It is, in many organizations, at the same level on the management track that a staff role is on the individual contributor track. A senior engineering manager needs to have scope across multiple product areas, with each product area including multiple components that one or more engineers are responsible for. This may sometimes translate into multiple teams, but it is not necessarily a requirement. This role also requires the ability to work cross-functionally, have very strong mentorship skills, the ability to influence others including peers and those above in the chain of command. This role while not necessarily requiring as hands-on a technical involvement as an engineering (line) manager, still, in no uncertain terms, needs the person to be technically very competency. The stronger candidates will chose to retain their hands-on technical involvement to some degree. This role is also expected to be a very strong people manager, with the ability to identify and groom leaders. It is incumbent on engineering leadership to promote engineering managers to senior engineering managers only when have consistently demonstrated the ability to excel in these areas. In general a promotion should only happen when the candidate is already functioning at the level of the role they are being promoted to, so that they are set up for success. This is even more important for a role as senior as a Senior Engineering Manager.

This post proposes a framework for promotion to Senior Engineering Manager. This framework is designed to be fair and transparent and to ensure that the company is promoting the right people to the higher level management positions.

To put together an application, the following steps are to be followed.

Requisites for Promotion Application

Applicant will have to find a sponsor. Typically it will be one of the following:

The direct manager, either a Senior Engineering Manager who is close to being promoted to Director, or the Director of Engineering, is expected to be sponsor in most cases. Applicant and their manager should have already had this conversation over time and the application and subsequent promotion should really be the final step of a career development plan leading up to the senior EM position. The manager is expected to have very clearly outlined to the applicant, in the past, the signals and attributes expected in order to be a senior EM. Working with the manager, the applicant should have already exhibited these signals and attributes over some amount of time. In other words, applicant is expected to be already functioning in the senior EM position capacity. So the formal promotion should really set the engineer up for success without any hint of doubt.
Skip level manager (Director / Senior Director / VP); only on exception basis; if direct manager is not available or due to other logistical reasons.

Applicant and sponsor should agree on the eligibility of applicant before proceeding. Sponsor will support applicant by guiding them through the application process and through a recommendation letter as part of the application package.

Recommendations Letters

Applicant will provide to sponsor names of at least three individuals who could potentially provide letters recommending applicant for the senior EM role.

1 staff/lead (or higher lever) engineer from the same team. [must]
1 product/program manager who has worked with applicant in multiple projects to highlight cross-functional collaboration. [must]
1 engineer from another team (within or outside of immediate department), or manager / director from another org to highlight cross-functional collaboration. [must]
1 additional engineer or product/program manager or QA manager, or manager from support/solutions organization (from within or external to immediate department; optional).

Sponsor may also get additional letters from other relevant persons including product managers, support / solutions engineers, etc.

Application Package

Written Document by Applicant

Applicant will provide to sponsor a written document detailing the following, with help from the sponsor.

Introduction and technical background. Applicant should provide a brief breakdown of their technical background, highlighting their career path so far at the company.
Statement of intent. Applicant should provide statement of intent for getting promoted to the senior EM role and also provide a brief overview of why they believe they are ready for the said role. Applicant should subsequently provide details using concrete examples as elucidated below.
Alignment with engineering competency matrix. Applicant should provide a detailed breakdown of how they have met the engineering competency matrix for the senior EM position. Applicant should provide specific supporting examples. Sponsor should/can directly work with the applicant on this section.
Examples of work at the company that highlights ownership, consistent output, results and positive impact/outcome. Applicant should list at least two projects / initiatives where following signals and attributes were exhibited:
- End to end ownership.
- Diving deep into unfamiliar areas.
- Being comfortable with ambiguity and being able to translate goals and requirements into epics and tickets.
- Working with engineering manager to assign tasks to (junior/other) engineers as appropriate and keeping track of progress.
- Enabling other engineers to be successful and helping them overcome technical obstacles.
- Consistently meeting commitments.
- A successful working relationship with their coworkers, specially with the team’s engineering manager.
- Note: Applicant should highlight their specific roles and responsibilities and their specific contributions and impact, specially when project / initiative would typically involve multiple developers. Applicant should break down each of their example projects into the following sections: Overview, Roles and Responsibilities, Results and Impact.
Examples of technical leadership across multiple components that displays both breadth and depth understanding of the codebase and technology stack.
Examples of formally mentoring at least two new-grad new-hire engineers and one intern, and guiding them to successfully complete assigned tasks.
Examples of cross-functional collaboration.
Examples of alignment with company values.

Here is a template for the written document.

# Overview

## Background

## Statement of Intent

# Alignment with Engineering Competency Framework

# Selected Projects and Initiatives

## <Initiative 1>

### Overview

### Roles and Responsibilities

### Results and Impact

## <Initiative 2>

### Overview

### Roles and Responsibilities

### Results and Impact

## <Initiative 3>

### Overview

### Roles and Responsibilities

### Results and Impact

# Technical Leadership across Components

## <Component 1>

## <Component 2>

## <Component 3>

# Mentoring and Coaching

# Scope of Responsibilities

## Product Areas

## Team Leadership

# Cross-Functional Collaboration

# Alignment with <Company> Values

## Value1

## Value2

## Value3

## Value4

# Summary

After the applicant submits to sponsor the written document and names of engineers willing to provide recommendation letters,

Sponsor will solicit recommendation letter from each person listed by applicant.
Sponsor will collate
- the applicant’s written document,
- the recommendation letters from others, and
- their own recommendation letter.
Sponsor will submit complete package to department leadership. I use a combination of markdown and LateX to create the final document. I may open source it in the future.

Steps following Application Submission

Debrief between Engineering (department) Leadership to discuss why or why not the applicant should get the senior EM position.
If Engineering Leadership agrees on application, department head will send the application package with their positive recommendation to executive team for approval.
If Engineering Leadership does not agree on application, they will provide data points on decision which sponsor will expand upon and take back to applicant. Sponsor should impress upon the applicant to use the feedback to close existing gaps in order to be promoted to a senior EM position. Sponsor should also use this as feedback for themselves since the applicant is expected to be have been functioning at that position before being formally promoted.

Summary

The application process provides a mechanism for both the applicant and sponsor to be very sure that the application is actually already functioning at the senior EM level, which would qualify them for the promotion. There may be situations where the applicant is perhaps adamant that he/she is ready for the promotion. While he/she may functioning strongly at their current level, they may not be ready yet for the senior EM position. Despite conversations and clear pointers from their manager the applicant may be very insistent otherwise. They should be encouraged to follow this application process and it is likely that as they start penning their thoughts it may become apparent that they was actually not quite there yet. This should lead to a discussion about the gaps and a plan to close those gaps for future promotion cycles. So this process also provides a mechanism for the applicant to get feedback in case they are not ready for the promotion yet. It is designed to be fair and transparent and to ensure that the company is promoting the right people to the higher levelengineering management positions.