On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 10:38 PM, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
- We don't award Architect as a job title beyond the original
triumvirate, but we _do_ introduce a Senior Software Engineer II (same band as the Architect band), and would define some criteria for that, among which proven architectural leadership could be one. We can choose to still recognize any continued membership in something like a core maintainers groups etc. in a person's role, but that's decoupled from the salary band and can change, consistent with the idea that it should be OK for an architect to spend time doing other fun & important things, rather than being locked into one set of responsibilities forever.
I think the second is more consistent with the tenor of the discussion here so far, because in the first case, the coupling between job titles and responsibilities in our community might be too tight to maintain flexibility and openness. It would also recognize that technical leadership doesn't _just_ mean taking on broad architectural responsibilities. So for example development of unique and mission-critical domain expertise might be another way to progress into Sr. II.
I personally think this route (separating the role of architectural leadership from the title/pay band of WMF employees) is the most reasonable way forward. I also think it fits well with the concepts of role flexibility that Erik has been expressing. Being given the title of Architect was a nice recognition of my value to the organization at my last employer, but it was actually a bit of a hindrance during my recent job search. Many recruiters were initially reluctant to put my resume forth for positions that required hands-on software development because they equated the Architect title with strategic planning more than top-tier development. I don't think that Tim, Brion or Mark would have any trouble demonstrating their abilities to anyone they decided they would rather work for, but it's something to be cognizant of.
I think that picking the title "Senior Software Engineer II" may be underselling the value of this highest tier to the outside world. In my recent job search I saw a bit of the tech ladder side of the org chart for several companies. Most of the ladders I saw had a title of "Principal Engineer" for the top level of non-management engineers.
Bryan