The role of Engineering Lead is described in 『The Manager’s Path』, and since my current role is close to this, I’d like to introduce it.

"Engineering Lead" = "Manager responsible for the entire team"

I'll introduce below the job description I once used for "managers responsible for the entire team" (I called managers of this rank "Engineering Leads").

Quoted from P.99 - 100

Should output small technical achievements

Although Engineering Leads spend less time writing code, they should engage in creating small-scale technical deliverables (such as bug fixes or small feature creation) as long as they don't delay or hinder the overall team's progress.

In my case, the time spent writing code has decreased. However, when deadlines are short or when the estimated story points in Scrum development are insufficient for the release schedule, I also engage in development by writing code and doing reviews.

In such cases, as mentioned above, I try not to take on tasks with tight deadlines or large estimation points so as not to hinder the progress of team development.

Responsibility to eliminate bottlenecks in team work

In addition to writing code, Engineering Leads are responsible for identifying and eliminating bottlenecks that cause team work delays and problems that prevent success.

Requests for specification and requirement confirmation across multiple other teams tend to be troublesome work for engineers and become bottlenecks, so I actively take on such roles and either handle them myself or assign them to skilled members.

Should contribute to the success of the entire organization

Those who take on this role are expected to make significant contributions to the success of the entire organization.

In particular, they have the authority to identify the most valuable projects and focus their team intensively on such projects.

Project scope adjustment

As part of these efforts, Engineering Leads work closely with Product Leads to adjust project scope and ensure the construction of technical deliverables.

I adjust scope in biweekly meetings with Product Owners and Product Managers. For some products, I also serve as the Product Manager myself, so I sometimes handle everything myself.

Confirm and secure the necessary number of team members

Engineering Leads also have the authority to confirm the necessary number of team members and plan and recruit personnel to secure them.

Every two weeks, I calculate the development projects needed in the near term, the number of teams, and the number of engineers to allocate to them, and consider team allocation. Also, when I feel there’s a chronic shortage of engineers, I consult with management and engage in engineer recruitment activities.

Authority and ability to manage members with different skill sets

Engineering Leads are independent managers who have the authority and ability to manage teams consisting of members with different skill sets from themselves.

Since I’m originally more of a backend engineer, in that sense, I mainly manage backend engineer members. In terms of different skill sets, I’ve also conducted 1-on-1s with frontend engineers, so I have experience managing teams with members who have different skill sets within the engineering profession.

Frequent feedback

The abilities, behaviors, and results expected from team members should be clearly communicated to everyone, and frequent feedback should be exchanged with individual members (not just during performance evaluation periods but regularly).

I try to communicate this in 1-on-1 meetings every 1-2 weeks.

Manage technical roadmaps for product groups

In addition to these excellent management skills, Engineering Leads are required to play a leadership role in managing technical roadmaps for (core) product groups.

Although I haven’t been able to create and present technical roadmaps myself, I do work with CTOs, Tech Leads, UX Leads to adjust scheduling for product delivery while incorporating it into technical roadmaps.

Product delivery scheduling

Clearly communicate schedules, scope, and risks to key partners, and lead delivery work for major milestones according to clear schedules.

I engage in product delivery scheduling consultation with internal and external stakeholders, create milestones, and share them.

CBA for resolving technical debt

Furthermore, they should detect strategic technical debt (consequences of ad hoc architecture or rushed software development) and conduct cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for its resolution, presenting the resulting priority schedule for resolution to management.

For technical debt that becomes a bottleneck in continuing product development, I conduct cost-benefit analysis like “resolving debt can reduce the development cost of feature X by about Y person-days.” I share this with CEO, COO, business leaders, etc., to secure development time for technical debt repayment.

For clarification, I calculate and present “person-days” to simplify explanations to non-engineers, but I don’t use person-day calculations for regular development estimation.

That’s all from the Gemba where I compared the role of Engineering Lead with my own work.