How Engineering Managers can actually get promoted

Inspired from people who have gone from EM -> Director, VP, and CTO roles.

👋 Hey, it’s Stephane. I share lessons, and stories from my journey to help you lead with confidence as an Engineering Manager. To accelerate your growth see: 50 Notion Templates | The EM’s Field Guide | CodeCrafters | Get Hired as an EM | 1:1 Coaching

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The jump from Engineering Manager (managing ICs) to SEM / Head of / Director (managing managers) is huge.

It might not be as big of a transition as going from IC to EM, but it is certainly not straight forward to navigate.

The ask is simple.

Expand your focus to having organisational influence and transition from tactical execution to initiating and executing strategic bets.

How to get there is not though.

Engineering Manager → Engineering Director

If you’re managing 5–15 engineers today, you likely focus on project plans, 1:1s, some code reviews now and then, and feature delivery. Success feels measurable: did your team hit their sprint goals, did releases go out on time, did bugs stay under control?

At Director level you’re suddenly responsible for 20–80 engineers through multiple managers. You’re expected to:

• Set vision across teams.

• Work with product and business leaders across the company as peers.

• Manage budgets, headcount, and resources.

• Play the long game - making bets today that may not show results for a year.

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Notebook for Engineering Managers

That’s how I start my day

I’ve tried countless notebooks over the years, but none ever felt quite right. So I created my own.
It keeps me focused on what really matters each day and the design makes me want to use it. ❤️
If you’ve been searching for the perfect daily notebook, this might be the one.

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Progression stories

The most illuminating career progressions come from engineers who documented their journeys with specific timelines, achievements, and lessons learned.

Emily Nakashima's journey to VP of Engineering at Honeycomb shows how early-stage startup growth creates accelerated advancement opportunities. Starting as employee #12, she progressed from IC to VP in roughly four years through "thousands of small steps rather than dramatic promotions." Her frontend and design background was initially unusual for a VP Engineering role, but she succeeded by developing holistic business thinking, complementing the CTO's technical expertise, and building strong relationships with senior individual contributors who handled complex technical challenges.

Andrew Phillips began his career as a graduate engineer at Skyscanner in 2009 and eventually became VP of Engineering (and now CTO). In his post, “From grad to VP: my journey to leading Skyscanner’s engineering teams globally” he shares how early‑stage impact, hands‑on growth, and deliberate career navigation helped him scale into leadership.

C S Sriram, now VP of Engineering at Betterworks, shared his journey on the groCTO Podcast in an episode titled “How EMs Break into Leadership—Road to Success”. Moving from engineering manager to VP, he talked about the mindset shifts needed, balancing quality with speed, building a culture of accountability, and using structured communication to scale his leadership.

The skills that actually matter

To move up, you need to grow across four axes:

1. Technical depth → technical breadth
   You don’t need to be the best coder anymore. You need to understand enough across systems to make sound decisions and guide decisions. Charity talks about the engineer/manager pendulum - switching between IC and manager roles to stay sharp.

2. Individual output → team development
   Promotions stall for managers who still act like the hero engineer. Your job is to make others successful.

3. Tactical execution → strategic thinking
   Learn how to connect engineering work to business outcomes. Read product strategy docs. Join roadmap discussions. Practice telling execs why this matters in business terms.

4. Direct authority → indirect influence
   At higher levels, you can’t just order people around. You’ll need to persuade, align, and win trust across teams that don’t report to you.

Projects that can prove you’re ready

Not all projects count the same. The ones that catch exec attention share a few traits:

• They solve org-wide problems.

• They show business results (time saved, revenue unlocked, risk reduced).

• They pull in multiple functions (product, design, ops, sales, etc).

• They stretch you beyond your current scope.

Examples:

• Building internal tools that cut costs company-wide.

• Leading a migration (infrastructure, cloud, monolith to services).

• Creating mentoring programs with measurable outcomes.

Tip: If the project feels messy, political, or like no one else wants to own it, it’s probably the right one to grab.

Timing matters

Your effort isn’t the only factor. Company stage plays a huge role:

• Startups in growth mode: You might move from Manager to Director in under two years because new layers of leadership are forming fast.

• Big tech: Expect 3–5 years per level, with heavy process and promotion committees. It’s slower, but more predictable.

• Restructures, acquisitions, or other big changes: Those who stay loyal in difficult times can come out ahead.

Why managers plateau

Managers stall for the same reasons over and over from my experience.

• They stay too focused on writing code instead of enabling others.

• They fail at delegation, trying to be the hero.

• They don’t invest in relationships outside their team.

• They can’t explain impact in plain, measurable terms.

You can be technically brilliant and have great execution skills but still be stuck.
Advancement past the Manager level requires having strong vision, people skills, and be able to navigate politics.

What you should do to progress

If you’re serious about growing, here’s a framework:

1. Gap analysis: Compare yourself to the next role. Where are you weakest: business thinking, indirect influence, technical breadth, or impact measurement?

2. Track your impact: Keep a doc of every win, with metrics. Don’t assume your manager remembers.

3. Grow your network: Connect with other managers, senior leaders, and peers in product/ops. Communities like Rands Leadership Slack can help too.

4. Pick projects wisely: Say yes to the scary, messy, org-wide problems.

Final thought

If you expand your focus from what you and your team can do to what the org can do because of you, your path to Director, or beyond will start to open up.

That’s all, folks!

See you in the next one,
~ Stephane