Career paths for software engineers at large tech companies

Across tech, the average tenure of software engineers seems to be rising, not least in Big Tech where it has increased rapidly. With today’s chilly job market having a dampening effect on the number of engineers switching jobs, it’s possible that staying in a role for years will become pretty normal for many in our industry.

So, if you can see yourself at your current workplace for the longer term, it’s sensible to consider the career path options available, and how to get promoted to the next level.

To shed light on these topics and others, I sought out someone who has managed large engineering orgs at a massive company. Ethan Evans is precisely such a person; he was a Vice President of Engineering at Amazon, and has overseen the growth and promotions of more than 1,000 engineers(!) over the course of his career.

Now recently retired from the online retail giant, Ethan can candidly discuss how large companies operate, and which tactics and strategies really work and help colleagues to enjoy thriving careers in big workplaces.

These days, Ethan teaches engineers and engineering managers how to get promoted faster, and runs live courses. He’s also built a 24/7 personalized “AI career coach”, and shares career growth advice in his weekly newsletter, Level Up. His class on fast career growth currently has a 25% discount for the US Thanksgiving holiday, from today through 2 Dec — you can check it out here.

In this issue, we cover:

1. Good performance as a mid-level engineer. Execute independently and try not to complain too much.

2. How to get a slam-dunk promotion to Senior. Have big ideas that are also correct, solve problems leadership didn’t know existed, see around corners, and more.

3. Tactics to get promoted to Senior. Agree a plan with your manager and be realistic about how long it takes.

4. Getting promoted to Principal Engineer. Standout technical expertise, tackling ambiguous & large-scale problems, and paying attention to the business, are all key.

5. Should you be a manager? As you grow more senior, there may be opportunities to become a manager. But is it the best path for you?

6. When to switch to management. Switching early (at L5) or later (L7+) is rare, and is most common at senior level (L6).

7. Different management levels. How being a manager at L5, L6, and L7 levels differ.

Throughout this article, we use Amazon’s career levels (bolded in the bulletpoint list below) which are a bit different from most places (listed alongside for comparison). Find out more about levels and how they compare at Levels.fyi

• L5: mid-level engineer. This is L4 at places like Google, Meta, and Uber

• L6: senior. At many companies, this is the L5 level

• L7: principal. After the senior level at places like Google is the Staff Engineer level (L6), then the Senior Staff level (L7) and then Principal level (usually L8).

Find out more about being a software engineer at the online retail giant in our deepdive Inside Amazon’s engineering culture.

With that, it’s over to Ethan:

What do the career path choices for a mid-level engineer with between 2 and 6 years’ experience look like from the point of view of a Vice President managing hundreds of engineers? In my career as an Amazon VP, I oversaw the growth and promotion of over 1,000 engineers, and saw some grow to senior engineers, and then even on to the Principal or Staff levels. Some people switch to management quickly, while others do this deeper into their careers.

The “correct” path for you is subjective and depends on your goals and environment. What I will do in this article is give some insights into these paths from a higher perspective, and reveal the choices which leaders make about colleagues and promotions. My goal is to help you choose the right path and navigate it successfully.

First, some information about the shorthand used at Amazon and Google; this can be applied to other companies on the website, levels.fyi. A mid-level engineer (SDE-2), is level 5, or L5, at those companies. The first level for managers is also L5. Senior engineers (SDE-3s) are L6, as are more experienced small group managers. Principal or Staff Engineers are L7, as are Senior Managers (managers of managers, with 25 to 80 people in their teams).

It’s easier and shorter to type “L5”, etc., so I’ll use these terms while going through the “three paths” available to a mid-level engineer (L5) who wants to progress. These are:

• Grow as an IC, first to L6, then perhaps to L7 and beyond

• Switch to management early, as an L5

• Become a senior engineer (L6), then switch to management