Mentors who are engineering managers
Talk to engineering managers about the move from IC to management — whether to make it, how the first year actually goes, and how to get back if you decide it was wrong.
Before you book a engineering manager mentor
How do I choose the right engineering manager mentor?
The decision to move into management is usually made for bad reasons: it is the only visible promotion, or someone left and you were asked. Neither is a reason to change jobs. A mentor who has done it, and ideally one who has moved back, can help you work out whether you want the work itself rather than the recognition attached to it.
What should I bring to a engineering manager mentor session?
The first year is genuinely hard in a way that is rarely described honestly: your feedback loop lengthens from hours to months, you lose the satisfaction of finishing things, and your worst days involve people rather than code. Ask about that directly.
If you are already managing, bring the specific conversation you are dreading. Underperformance, a departure you did not see coming, or a promotion you cannot get approved are what these sessions are actually for.
Looking for the leadership craft itself — org design, scope, performance systems — rather than the transition? The engineering leadership page below goes deeper on that.
What people bring to these sessions
- Whether you actually want to manage, or just want the promotion
- What the first year as a manager really looks like
- Difficult conversations: underperformance and departures
- Getting a promotion approved for someone on your team
- Moving back to an IC role without it reading as failure
6 mentors
- Masha Melnikova — Sr Software Engineering Manager at unitedhealth group. Career coaching, Core energy, Life Coaching
- Neel Bhatt — Software Engineering Manager at rtl netherlands. Understanding generative AI, .NET, Improving system reliability
- Akanksha Gupta — Engineering Manager at amazon. Career guidance, Engineering beyond software, Career transitions
- Boris Petkov — Senior Engineering Manager at microsoft. Engineering Management, People Management, Project Management
- Siddharth Ray — Principal Engineering Manager at microsoft. Distributed systems, System design, Artificial intelligence
- Ritesh Kumar — Software development manager at amazon