How to spot 10x Engineers at every stage of their career
What real top performers look like at junior, mid, and senior levels.
What is a 10x Engineer?
An engineer who is 10 times more productive than the average engineer. Which means they write 10x more code than anyone else.
Right? Wrong!
That’s not a 10x engineer. It’s literally quite impossible to produce 10 times more code than other engineers on your own.
Software engineering is a team activity but I believe that at each stage of your career, one can demonstrate behaviours that have the potential to 10x team performance.
Uplift others
A few years ago, I worked with an engineer who rarely spoke with the team.
He was described to me as a 10x Engineer because he was producing a lot of output.
Very senior.
Quiet guy.
Always coding.
At first, I assumed he was just shy.
But over time, I realized something was off.
Every time we had an incident, he’d jump in, fix it, and disappear.
Quite convenient, but…
No notes.
No documentation.
No explanation to anyone of what was wrong / what he did.
One day, I asked if he could walk the team through a fix just so we could all learn from it.
He politely declined and said:
“It’s just faster if I fix these.”
His answer and overall behaviour were not ok and he knew it - because we had discussed this with him numerous times.
A real senior engineer doesn’t only fix problems.
They take others on a journey with them when possible.
They teach others how to fix issues.
They turn one person’s knowledge into team-wide velocity.
That’s what a 10x engineer really looks like. When everyone becomes better as a result of their actions.
Not someone who hoards knowledge.
But someone who shares it generously.
If you’re a manager, these are behaviours of real top talent at each career level that have the potential to 10x your team’s performance.
Junior Engineers: They learn fast
The best junior engineers build learning systems that make them better every week.
What to look for:
Keeps a log of what they get stuck on, to learn more about.
Prepares enough before asking for help.
Uses feedback to improve. Regularly.
They are genuinely curious and take time to learn.
Red flags:
Asks the same question multiple times.
Waits for others to catch mistakes or to offer help.
Mid-Level Engineers: They think in outcomes
The best mid-level engineers are more goal-focused.
What to look for:
Links their work to business results.
Spots trade-offs early and talks about them.
Gives updates that are short, clear, and forward-looking.
Pushes back on requirements when they don’t make sense and suggests alternatives.
Bonus: They start thinking like their future self. They’ll say things like “this shortcut might hurt us in 6 months in XYZ way” and plan around it.
Red flags:
Only builds what’s in the Jira ticket.
Doesn’t question unclear requirements.
Always picks short-term speed over long-term value.
Senior Engineers: They scale more than just themselves
The best senior engineers are multipliers. They help people, and teams move and learn faster.
What to look for:
Shares knowledge through guides, diagrams, or simplifying systems.
Finds and builds tools or patterns that others use, saving time across the team.
Shapes culture through teaching and setting shared standards.
Bonus: They coach without being asked. They don’t just answer questions, they help others level up.
Red flags:
Keeps knowledge in their head.
Builds clever systems that only they can maintain.
Spends more time fixing things themselves than enabling others.
Final thoughts
Forget the myth of the solo genius. The engineers who create the most value don’t just write more code. They are amazing team players.
If you know what to look for, you’ll stop hiring just fast coders and start building better teams.
What other traits have you seen in great engineers?
Did you like this post?
Consider supporting my work and subscribing to this newsletter.
Here’s what you get as a subscriber:Free:
✉️ 1 high value post per week
Paid:
🔒 50 Engineering Manager templates and playbooks (worth $79)
🔒 The Engineering Manager’s Field Guide (worth 29$)
🔒 A weekly "What would you do?" scenario & breakdown from real challenges EMs face
🔒 The complete archive
Some useful links from me
📂 Get 50 Engineering Manager Notion Templates to streamline your workflow.
📕 Read The Engineering Manager’s Field Guide for practical leadership insights.
👨💻 Become a better Software Engineer with CodeCrafters – build Redis, Git & more from scratch (40% off with my partner link).
🎯 Book a mock System Design or Behavioral interview with me to prep for your next interview.
👋 Connect with me on LinkedIn for more Engineering Management tips.
Love or Scared of System Design?
I just launched System Design, but Simple a weekly newsletter where I will be breaking down system design concepts in a way that actually makes sense.
If you're preparing for interviews or just want to sharpen your architecture skills, this is for you.
🎁 Bonus for all subscribers: System Design Interview Preparation Cheat Sheet
Totally agree! The 10x engineer aims to coach other engineers to achieve 10x (maybe even more!) results. That's also the kind of engineer a manager wants to raise under their wing.