roles

Primary Role:

High-leverage IC solving cross-team technical problems

Reporting Relations:

Reports to EM/Director

Decision Making Authority:

Architecture decisions across teams

Stratigic Planning

Influences technical roadmap

Team Management:

None; mentors engineers

Meeting Involvment:

Design authority in technical reviews

Project Management:

Leads cross-team initiatives

Communication:

Communicates with senior engineering leadership

Professional Development:

→ Principal Engineer / Architect

Primary Role:

Company-level technical authority for major systems

Reporting Relations:

Reports to Director/VP

Decision Making Authority:

Final say on major technical standards

Stratigic Planning

Shapes long-term tech strategy

Team Management:

None formally; deep influence

Meeting Involvment:

Executive-facing design reviews

Project Management:

Oversees strategic system initiatives

Communication:

Communicates with execs and stakeholders

Professional Development:

→ Distinguished Engineer

Primary Role:

Designs technical solutions for customers or enterprise clients

Reporting Relations:

Reports to Eng/CTO/Sales Eng

Decision Making Authority:

Technical design authority for implementations

Stratigic Planning

Limited internal strategy; supports GTM strategy

Team Management:

None

Meeting Involvment:

Client meetings + pre-sales calls

Project Management:

Oversees solution implementation

Communication:

Customer + sales communication

Professional Development:

→ Principal Architect