For most of my early career, I was told the only path up was through management roles. Our market has since evolved, and Staff+ engineering roles are more common and offer us a different path. But what is a Staff/Principal engineer? What do they do? How do they work? Are they just managers who can't admit it? Let's explore all these topics, the skills you need, the role you may play, and the different flavors of Individual Contributors you will discover while we figure out how to hotwire your growth in this career path.

1. Rafael Dohms (@rdohms)
The Path of an
Individual Contributor
A guide to growing beyond senior
Credits:
It’s all AI generated.
The images I mean!! Not the content, that’s all me, I swear

2. For a long time…

6. No Promotion Engineering Management

7. “Most often, they turned a great
engineer into a terrible manager”

8. Engineering
Management
Individual
Contributor

9. Senior Sta
f
levels.fyi

10. Senior Sta
f
Staff+
levels.fyi

11. Principal Engineer / Architect
he/him
@rdohms
Rafael Dohms
doh.ms
“Dad, Engineer, Educator, talks a lot.”

13. Usabilla

14. Usabilla

15. Usabilla SurveyMonkey

16. Usabilla SurveyMonkey
GetFeedback

17. Usabilla SurveyMonkey
GetFeedback

18. SurveyMonkey

19. Moral of the story
“Don’t put yourself ina box, it may not exist
tomorrow”

20. Moral of the story
“Define your own box, proactively try to find
where you can help the company be better”
“Don’t put yourself ina box, it may not exist
tomorrow”

21. Junior
Medior / Analyst
Senior / Lead
Sta
f
Manager
Sta
ff
with Reports
Principal with Reports
Principal
Time
Principal

22. Succeeding as an
Individual Contributor

23. “Staff+ Engineer,
is not a clearly
defined role”


24. “Staff+ Engineer,
is not a clearly
defined role”
“Staff+ Engineer,
is not a clearly
defined role”
 

25. What’s the difference between a
Senior and Staff+ Engineer?

26. “A failing project”

27. Senior
“A failing project”

28. Senior
“A failing project”

29. Senior
Staff
“A failing project”

30. Senior
Staff
“A failing project”

31. Senior
Staff
“A failing project”
Why?

32. One makes the project better,
The other makes the team better.

33. The 3 Pillars of a Staff Engineer

35. BIG PICTURE

36. BIG PICTURE EXECUTION

37. BIG PICTURE EXECUTION LEVELLING UP

38. Everyone is not the same

39. Everyone is not the same

40. Everyone is not the same
Tech Lead

41. Everyone is not the same
Tech Lead Architect

42. Everyone is not the same
Tech Lead Solver
Architect

43. Everyone is not the same
Tech Lead Solver Right Hand
Architect

44. Core Tech Skills
Product Management
Project Management
People Management
Tech Lead Solver Right Hand
Architect

45. You are “it” now.

46. CTO / VP
Director
Sr Manager
Jr Manager
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
• Di
ffi
cult challenges
• Risk / Impact
• Visibility
Reporting High
MORE
LESS
• Manager time
• Hand Holding

47. CTO / VP
Director
Sr Manager
Manager
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
Sta
ff
+
• Manager time
• Singular focus
Reporting Low
MORE
LESS
• Risk / Impact
• Inside scoop
• Manager Experience

48. Building the Big
Picture

49. Is focusing on the big picture
really a full-time job?

51. Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain

52. Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain

53. Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain

54. Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain

55. Reilly, Tanya. The Sta
ff
Engineer's Path.
The local maximum, the best decision for a
single group, might not be anything like the
best decision when you take a broader view.

56. Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
Team / Domain
This is where
much of your
work happens

57. Shouldn’t managers drive
alignment?

58. You are a manager leader!

59. Staff+ are like Vampires.

60. So where do I start?

61. Pick your own adventure

63. LOCATOR
you are here

64. TOPOGRAPHICAL
Temple of Tech Debt
The mountains of
distrust
The hills of green
fi
eld
The dependency
rapids
The Forest of Legacy
LOCATOR
you are here

65. TOPOGRAPHICAL
Temple of Tech Debt
The mountains of
distrust
The hills of green
fi
eld
The dependency
rapids
The Forest of Legacy
LOCATOR
you are here
TREASURE

66. Your biggest challenge will
always be: Communication.

67. Communicate in the
open

68. Communicate in the
open
Cross-skill, Cross-Org
Groups

69. Communicate in the
open
Cross-skill, Cross-Org
Groups
Pave the Elephant
paths

70. Care about the business.

71. Guiding with Strategy and Vision

72. Identify your company’s
engineering values.

74. Summarize

75. Summarize

76. Summarize

77. Summarize

78. Summarize
Engineering
Strategy

79. Summarize
Engineering
Strategy

80. Summarize Forecast
Engineering
Strategy

81. Summarize Forecast
Engineering
Strategy
Engineering
Vision

82. Avoid the echo chamber

83. Exceeding in
Execution

84. Your time is limited.

85. Choosing projects

86. More
Effort
More Impact
Less Impact
Less
Effort

87. “Snacking”
More
Effort
More Impact
Less Impact
Less
Effort

88. “Snacking”
More
Effort
More Impact
“Preening”
Less Impact
Less
Effort

89. “Snacking”
More
Effort
More Impact
“Preening”

“Chasing Ghosts”
Less Impact
Less
Effort

90. “Snacking”
More
Effort
More Impact
“Preening”

“Chasing Ghosts”
Less Impact
Less
Effort

92. “Existential issues”

93. “Existential issues”
Space

94. “Existential issues”
Attention
Space

95. “Existential issues”
Attention
Space
Unique to you

96. Energy
Credibility
Quality of Life
Skills
Social Capital

97. Energy
Credibility
Quality of Life
Skills
Social Capital

98. Energy
Credibility
Quality of Life
Skills
Social Capital

99. Energy
Credibility
Quality of Life
Skills
Social Capital

100. Execution != Code

101. Leading Projects

102. Leveling up

103. You are a Role Model

104. Be Competent.
Be Responsible.
Be a Good Leader.
Technical Knowledge
Domain Knowledge
Own your mistakes
Admit when you don’t know
Seek constructive feedback
Step Up, Make decisions
Remember the Goal
Remember the people

105. Hold people accountable,
start with yourself.

106. Empower other Individual Contributors

107. Be the bridge between the industry and your company

108. Tiers of
influence

109. Tiers of
influence
Individual
Grows a single
person’s skills

110. Group
Impacts
multiple
people at the
same time
Tiers of
influence
Individual
Grows a single
person’s skills

111. Catalyst
Your impact
goes beyond
your direct
in
fl
uence, it
has a
compound
effect
Group
Impacts
multiple
people at the
same time
Tiers of
influence
Individual
Grows a single
person’s skills

112. Catalyst
Your impact
goes beyond
your direct
in
fl
uence, it
has a
compound
effect
Group
Impacts
multiple
people at the
same time
Tiers of
influence
Individual
Grows a single
person’s skills
Advice
Teaching
Opportunities
Guardrails

113. Individual Group Catalyst
Advice
Mentoring, sharing
knowledge, feedback
Talks, documentation,
articles
Mentorship program,
events
Teaching
Reviews (code, design),
coaching, pairing
Classes or workshops Onboarding process
Guardrails
Pull Request review
process
Processes, linters, style
guides
Frameworks, cultural
change
Opportunity
Delegating, sponsoring,
supporting
Behind the curtain work,
empowering teams
Culture of giving credit not
taking.
Reilly, Tanya. The Sta
ff
Engineer's Path (p. 400). O'Reilly Media.

114. Individual Group Catalyst
Advice
Mentoring, sharing
knowledge, feedback
Talks, documentation,
articles
Mentorship program,
events
Teaching
Reviews (code, design),
coaching, pairing
Classes or workshops Onboarding process
Guardrails
Pull Request review
process
Processes, linters, style
guides
Frameworks, cultural
change
Opportunity
Delegating, sponsoring,
supporting
Behind the curtain work,
empowering teams
Culture of giving credit not
taking.
Reilly, Tanya. The Sta
ff
Engineer's Path (p. 400). O'Reilly Media.

115. Know when to give someone
else the chance

116. Your turn to design your future.

117. https://l.doh.ms/m/links

118. Thank you.
https://l.doh.ms/m/links
https://doh.ms
@rdohms
@rdohms@php.social