On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 10:38 PM, Erik Moeller <[email protected]> wrote: > 2) We don't award Architect as a job title beyond the original > triumvirate, but we _do_ introduce a Senior Software Engineer II (same > band as the Architect band), and would define some criteria for that, > among which proven architectural leadership could be one. We can > choose to still recognize any continued membership in something like a > core maintainers groups etc. in a person's role, but that's decoupled > from the salary band and can change, consistent with the idea that it > should be OK for an architect to spend time doing other fun & > important things, rather than being locked into one set of > responsibilities forever. > > I think the second is more consistent with the tenor of the discussion > here so far, because in the first case, the coupling between job > titles and responsibilities in our community might be too tight to > maintain flexibility and openness. It would also recognize that > technical leadership doesn't _just_ mean taking on broad architectural > responsibilities. So for example development of unique and > mission-critical domain expertise might be another way to progress > into Sr. II.
I personally think this route (separating the role of architectural leadership from the title/pay band of WMF employees) is the most reasonable way forward. I also think it fits well with the concepts of role flexibility that Erik has been expressing. Being given the title of Architect was a nice recognition of my value to the organization at my last employer, but it was actually a bit of a hindrance during my recent job search. Many recruiters were initially reluctant to put my resume forth for positions that required hands-on software development because they equated the Architect title with strategic planning more than top-tier development. I don't think that Tim, Brion or Mark would have any trouble demonstrating their abilities to anyone they decided they would rather work for, but it's something to be cognizant of. I think that picking the title "Senior Software Engineer II" may be underselling the value of this highest tier to the outside world. In my recent job search I saw a bit of the tech ladder side of the org chart for several companies. Most of the ladders I saw had a title of "Principal Engineer" for the top level of non-management engineers. Bryan -- Bryan Davis Wikimedia Foundation <[email protected]> [[m:User:BDavis_(WMF)]] Sr Software Engineer Boise, ID irc: bd808 v:415.839.6885 x6855 _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
