Leadership Roles In Top-Down Tech Organizational Structures
The Tech Lead guides a particular team in their approach and execution.
They work closely with one manager but sometimes collaborate with two or three managers within a specific area. Tech Leads are responsible for maintaining the team’s context and essential cross-team and cross-functional relationships, which are crucial for the team’s success.
An organization typically requires one Tech Lead for every eight engineers, making it a more common archetype than others.
Software architects are accountable for ensuring the success of a particular technical domain in their company, such as API design, frontend stack, storage strategy, or cloud infrastructure. They oversee the direction, quality, and approach of a crucial area. The Tech Lead and Architect tend to work with the same people on the same problems for years, developing a tight sense of teamwork and shared purpose.
The Solver is a reliable organization member who delves into complex issues and perseveres until they are resolved. They diligently investigate complex problems and identify the best course of action. The Solver is typically found in companies prioritizing individual responsibility and planning over team collaboration.
The Right Hand is rare and only appears in organizations with many engineers.
The Right Hand extends an executive’s attention, borrowing their scope and authority to manage particularly complex organizations. The Solver and Right-Hand bounce from fire to fire, often having more transactional interactions with the folks they work with on any given week.
