The document discusses the career path from software engineer to engineering manager. It begins by outlining the typical progression from senior software engineer to technical lead to engineering manager. It then lists and describes the many responsibilities of managers, including leadership, feedback, mentoring, communication, and people management. The rest of the document provides advice on preparing to become a manager, such as gaining technical skills, finding mentors, asking for feedback, and starting management practices early. It also outlines the typical paths from engineering manager to director, VP, and CTO roles with increasing levels of organizational leadership.

1. From programming to management
Nikolay Stoitsev
Engineering Manager @ Halo DX

2. How to become a manager?
Sr. Software
Engineer

3. How to become a manager?
Sr. Software
Engineer
Expert

4. How to become a manager?
Sr. Software
Engineer
Tech Lead
Expert

5. How to become a manager?
Sr. Software
Engineer
Tech Lead
EM
Expert

6. What do managers do?

7. ● Leadership
● Run 1:1
● Give Feedback
● Mentoring
● Coaching
● Motivation
● Performance
Management
● Managing personal
crisis
● Delegation
● Effective
communication
● Servant leadership
● Conflict resolution
● Team structure
● Quality
● Onboarding
● Diversity and
inclusion
● Hiring
● Delivery
● Agile, Project
Management
● Vision
● Mission
● Strategy
● KPI
● Conflict Resolution
● Risk Management
● Stakeholder
management
● Empathy
● Culture
● Alignment
● Promotions
● Budgeting
● Build vs Buy
● Managing up
● Release
management
● Incident
management
● Compensation
● Termination
● Team building

8. Onboarding
Giving effective feedback
Mentoring
Coaching
1:1s
Delegation
Motivation
Performance management
Managing People

9. Leadership
Culture & Values
Vision & Mission
Conflict Resolution
Making Decisions
Hiring
Team Structure
Processes
Diversity and Inclusion
Risk Management
Managing Teams

10. Budgets
PTOs
Preparing offers
Promotions
Admin Work

11. And you need to be
technical

12. It’s a different profession

13. Good Engineer Good Manager

14. Do you want to become a manager?

15. You don’t need to be a manager to grow
Intern
Software
Engineer
Software
Engineer II
Sr. Software
Engineer
Engineering
Manager
Staff Software
Engineer
Director
Principle
Engineer
VP
Individual Contributor
(IC) Ladder

16. Simple Test
https://medium.com/hackernoon/a-voight-kampff-test-for-identi
fying-engineering-managers-bb8512c70857

17. Do you care more about
people or technology?
…
EM
IC
Tech
Lead

18. What is the career path of a
manager?

19. Management Growth
https://medium.com/swlh/a-hierarchy-model-for-leadership-development-cee911071e4a
Leading yourself
Leading a team
Leading a large team
Leading an organisation
Leading the
company

20. Manager Ladder
EM EM
Sr. EM
Director
VP
CTO
Director
VP
Sr. EM

21. Leading managers
Growing managers
Long-term strategy
Org Structure
Broad communication
Skip level 1:1
Bigger Budget Planning
Manager of Managers (MoM)

22. ~100% MoM
~75% MoM
~25% MoM
VP Eng
Director of Eng
Sr. Eng Manager
~0% MoM
Eng Manager

23. Director of Engineering
● Leads multiple big teams
● Leads long term technical and business solutions
across the teams
● Able to create high performing team of Sr EMs or
EMs

24. Vice President of Engineering
● Leads teams across multiple domains each with
their unique processes, priorities, and modes of
operation
● Charts the future of the company
● The job is no longer the “what”

25. Chief Technical Officer
● Very different in every company
● Aligns the engineering organisation with the rest
of the orgs
● Able to create high performing team of VPs
● Responsible for all things tech

26. Lessons Learned

27. 0. It’s a new
role with
different skills

28. 1. Be proactive
about finding
risks and
managing them

29. 2. Management
is different in
every org so
make sure you
know what it
means in yours

30. 3. Find good
mentors

31. 4. Build book
knowledge

32. 5. Regularly ask
for feedback

33. How to start the journey early on

34. The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and
Change - Camille Fournier

35. https://leadingsnowflakes.com/

36. Challenge your teammates
Mentorship
Effective Communication
… you pick yours…
Start Practicing

37. Thank you! Q&A
Nikolay Stoitsev
Engineering Manager at Halo DX
Photos by Christina Morillo, Kelly L, Julia Larson, Andrea Piacquadio, RODNAE Productions, fauxels,
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