5 Engineering Manager Archetypes

“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things.”— Phil Karlton

Introduction

In today’s tech organisations, you find 2 types of technical leadership roles in teams – Tech Leads and Engineering Managers. Tech Leads are better defined with The Definition of a Tech Lead but the Engineering Manager (EM) role remains unclear. In this article, we will explore 5 Engineering Manager archetypes commonly found in the industry.

A frequently asked question, “What’s an Engineering Manager?”

Use These Archetypes as a Conversation Starter

The fluidity of the Engineering Manager role leads to too many misunderstandings. It is easy to have a misunderstanding when two people attach different meanings to the same word. A role a is useful shorthand for the set of responsibilities attached to it. But only when people have a share a common understanding.