engineeringladders

This repository is a framework that engineering managers can use to have structured career conversations with the people who report to them. It describes what is expected at each level across four different career tracks common in software companies: Developer (the individual contributor who writes code), Tech Lead (a developer who also owns the overall technical direction of a system), Technical Program Manager (someone who coordinates work across multiple teams), and Engineering Manager (the person responsible for a team's delivery and the growth and satisfaction of its members).

The framework defines seven levels, numbered 1 through 7, though not all tracks start at level 1. Developers start at level 1, while Engineering Managers begin at level 5. Each level is described across five dimensions: Technology (how well someone knows the tools and systems), System (how much ownership they take over what gets built and how it runs), People (how they relate to and support teammates), Process (how they engage with how the team works), and Influence (how far their impact reaches, from a single feature to the broader tech community).

Within each dimension, there are five performance tiers. For Technology, for example, someone at the lowest tier is actively learning the tools the team uses, while someone at the highest tier is inventing new technologies that others adopt. Each tier builds on the one below it.

The framework uses radar charts, which are spider-web-shaped diagrams, to visually show where someone sits across the five dimensions. This is meant to make it easy to spot strengths and growth areas at a glance.

The README includes a FAQ that clarifies how to use the framework in practice: it is not a checklist for deciding promotions, but a guide for conversations. Companies are encouraged to adapt it to their own structures. The content is open source.