| Pillar | Developer | Manager | Director | AVP | VP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :------------------------ | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1. Get Stuff Done | Personal code quality and throughput. Meeting sprint commitments, keeping PRs small and reviewable, flagging blockers immediately | Team-level DORA metrics and sprint health. Removing day-to-day delivery friction for their team | Delivery consistency across multiple teams. Spotting systemic bottlenecks vs. one-off issues | Portfolio-level velocity trends across directors' teams. Resourcing and sequencing tradeoffs across programs | Org-level delivery capacity as a strategic asset. Investment vs. throughput tradeoffs at the budget level |
| 2. Technical Skills | Applying KISS/YAGNI day-to-day. Resisting premature abstraction and reinventing the wheel | Reviewing designs for complexity creep. Coaching individuals on simplicity and tech choices | Standardizing "boring tech" and architectural patterns across their teams | Pattern-spotting complexity/NIH drift across directors' orgs. Cross-team architecture alignment | Platform/architecture strategy, build-vs-buy at the portfolio level, technical debt as capital allocation |
| 3. Security | Secure coding practices, input validation, dependency hygiene, fixing flagged vulnerabilities | Enforcing security gates in code review. Facilitating threat modeling for their team | Ensuring SDLC security gates are followed consistently across teams. Triaging systemic vulnerabilities | Security program implementation across directors' orgs: vendor and dependency risk process | Security governance, compliance posture (HITRUST/HIPAA-adjacent), board/audit-level risk reporting |
| 4. Developer Culture | Egoless code review, psychological safety as a peer, productive technical disagreement | Building psychological safety on their team. 1:1 coaching. Mediating technical conflict | Consistency of culture across multiple managers/teams. Developing managers as coaches | Calibrating autonomy vs. process across directors' orgs. Identifying where culture is drifting | Org-wide cultural norms, career sponsorship pipeline, org design (reversible vs. irreversible bets) |
| 5. Communications | Clear PR descriptions and status updates. Surfacing blockers early. Constructive standup participation | Translating priorities to the team. Direct feedback. Managing up to their Director | Structured status reporting to AVP/VP. Managing lateral coordination between teams | Managing lateral conflict between peer directors/orgs. Translating strategy down through directors | Executive/board-level narrative, cross-org negotiation, crisis communication |
| 6. Outcomes Alignment | Understanding why their ticket/story matters. Honest effort estimates that reflect uncertainty | Connecting the team's work to sprint/quarter goals. Team-level elevator test | Tracking outcome delivery across teams. Prioritization tradeoffs within their portfolio | Portfolio-level outcome measurement across directors. Cross-program prioritization | Business-outcome ownership, tying technology investment directly to company strategy |
Note: for a deeper dive into the specific disciplines / job family expectations (e.g. Full Stack Dev, QA, or Data Engineering), see the sharepoint website
General Principle: Organizational Weighting
The focus and depth of the six technology pillars shift dynamically as leaders advance through the career ladder. Rather than requiring uniform mastery of all areas, the rounding and growth process scales the focus based on three distinct operational zones:
- Execution Tier (Developers & Managers)
- Core Pillars: Weighted heavily toward 1 (Get Stuff Done), 2 (Technical Skills), 3 (Security), and 4 (Developer Culture).
- Role Focus: These positions anchor the organization in engineering craft and team-level delivery velocity.
- Security Focus: At this level, security is centered on execution and adherence (enforcing code gates, verifying inputs, maintaining dependency hygiene) rather than strategic governance, ensuring that safety controls protect rather than bottleneck delivery.
- Scale Tier (Directors)
- Core Pillars: Continued focus on 1, 2, 3, and 4 scaled across multiple teams.
- Role Focus: Directors evaluate and manage systems rather than individual tasks.
- Delivery Focus: Consistent delivery and DevEx remain their primary value drivers, focusing on standardizing simple patterns (KISS/YAGNI) across their entire portfolio.
- Leadership & Governance Tier (AVPs & VPs)
- Core Pillars: Primary focus shifts to 3 (Security), 5 (Communications), and 6 (Outcomes Alignment).
- The AVP Inflection Point: This is the critical transition where security shifts from operational gate enforcement to actual program ownership (vendor risk management, dependency pipeline governance). Consequently, Pillar 3 carries equal or greater weight than Pillar 1, which should operate autonomously at the Director layer.
- The VP Focus: Anchors strategic governance, capital allocation, and executive alignment. Mastery of Pillars 3, 5, and 6 is paramount, while Pillars 1, 2, and 4 require systemic fluency rather than day-to-day management.
Generated for the Technology Growth Program.