Career Ladders for Engineers in the Age of AI
A framework for meaningful career conversations with engineers—adapted for the age of AI, automation, and evolving technical leadership.
This framework helps engineering managers have meaningful conversations with their reports about role expectations and how to grow toward the next level. It uses roles and levels common in US tech, but every company is different—use this as a baseline and adapt it.
Why it matters in the age of AI: As tools and automation change how we build software, the human dimensions of engineering—ownership, collaboration, judgment, and influence—matter more. This ladder emphasizes those dimensions so engineers can grow in ways that stay relevant as the craft evolves.
Career ladders
Four tracks:
- Developer — Deep technical expertise; programmer / software engineer.
- Tech Lead — Owner of the system; balance of hands-on work, architecture, and production support.
- Technical Program Manager — Coordinates and drives initiatives across multiple teams.
- Engineering Manager — Consistent delivery, career growth, and well-being of the team.
For the difference between Tech Lead and Engineering Manager, see Tech Lead vs Engineering Manager.
| Level | Senior | Developer | Tech Lead | Technical Program Manager | Engineering Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | D1 | |||
| 2 | No | D2 | |||
| 3 | No | D3 | |||
| 4 | Yes | D4 | TL4 | TPM4 | |
| 5 | Yes | D5 | TL5 | TPM5 | EM5 |
| 6 | Yes | D6 | TL6 | TPM6 | EM6 |
| 7 | Yes | D7 | TL7 | TPM7 | EM7 |
Axes
Expectations are described along five axes. Influence is orthogonal and applies to the others.
- Technology — Knowledge of stack and tools; in the AI era this includes when to leverage automation and when to rely on human judgment.
- System — Ownership of system(s) and outcomes.
- People — How you work with the team(s).
- Process — Engagement with how the team builds and ships.
- Influence — Scope of impact (subsystem → team → org → community).
Each axis has five levels; higher levels include the lower ones (e.g. someone who evangelizes also specializes and adopts).
Technology
- Adopts — Actively learns and adopts the technology and tools the team uses.
- Specializes — Go-to person for one or more technologies; takes initiative to learn new ones.
- Evangelizes — Researches, prototypes, and introduces new technologies to the team.
- Masters — Very deep knowledge of the system’s technology stack.
- Creates — Designs and creates new technologies used widely inside or outside the org.
System
- Enhances — Ships features and fixes that improve and extend the system.
- Designs — Designs and implements medium to large features while reducing tech debt.
- Owns — Owns production operation and monitoring; aware of SLAs.
- Evolves — Evolves architecture for future needs and defines SLAs.
- Leads — Leads technical excellence and plans to mitigate outages.
People
- Learns — Learns quickly from others and steps up when needed.
- Supports — Proactively supports teammates and helps them succeed.
- Mentors — Mentors others to accelerate growth and encourages participation.
- Coordinates — Coordinates the team with clear feedback and moderation.
- Manages — Manages careers, expectations, performance, and well-being.
Process
- Follows — Follows team processes and delivers a consistent flow to production.
- Enforces — Enforces processes and helps everyone understand benefits and tradeoffs.
- Challenges — Challenges processes and looks for improvements.
- Adjusts — Adjusts processes with feedback and guides the team through change.
- Defines — Defines the right processes for the team’s maturity (agility and discipline).
Influence
- Subsystem — Impact on one or more subsystems.
- Team — Impact on the whole team.
- Multiple teams — Impact beyond your immediate team.
- Company — Impact on the whole tech organization.
- Community — Impact on the broader tech community.
FAQs
What if someone doesn’t hit every point?
Normal. People are stronger in some areas than others. Use this as guidance for conversations, not a promotion checklist.
What if our ladder is different?
Adapt it. The axes and levels are a starting point; tailor them to your organization.
When is someone ready for the next level?
Usually when they’ve been performing at the next level consistently for several months.
How do I gather evidence for conversations?
Combine 1:1s, peer and cross-team feedback, and self-evaluation.
Why stop at level 7?
Levels 8+ vary a lot by company size and structure; this framework focuses on the most comparable band.
Further reading
- The Manager's Path — Camille Fournier on expectations and challenges of engineering roles; chapter 9 on writing career ladders.
- How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals — Dick Grote on defining responsibilities and evaluating performance.
For more on leadership and the Head of Engineering role, see Further reading, First 90 days, and Head of Engineering topics.