S2:E04 - What Puts the Senior in Senior Software Engineer?

In this episode of The Retrospective podcast, co-hosts Jeremy and Peter delve into the characteristics that define a senior software engineer. They explore the multifaceted nature of seniority, emphasizing that it is not just about years of experience but a blend of technical expertise, business awareness, team impact, and leadership skills. Through analogies and personal anecdotes, they illustrate how senior engineers are not just adept at coding but also act as multipliers of their team’s success. They discuss the holistic view and forward-thinking mindset expected of senior engineers, drawing on examples from their own careers. The episode also touches on the importance of fostering growth in others, handling technical debt pragmatically, and effectively communicating complex technical topics. 



Advice is offered to engineering managers on how to guide team members aspiring to reach senior levels, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating these traits consistently over time.



Here are some articles and further food for thought:



Senior Engineers Reduce Risk (https://hackernoon.com/senior-enginee...)



Levels of Seniority (https://roadmap.sh/guides/levels-of-s...)



Why senior engineers get nothing done (https://swizec.com/blog/why-senior-en...)



An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyond coding (  / an-incomplete-list-of-skills-senior-engine...  )



Looking a bit further ahead of the Senior level:



What a Senior Staff Software Engineer Actually Does (  / what-a-senior-staff-software-engineer-actu...  )



VP, Director, what? (https://www.theengineeringmanager.com...)



00:00 Intro



00:36 Overview



01:40 Senior People Operate on a Different Time Horizon



05:07 The Impact a Senior Engineer Can Have



06:38 Technical Expertise



08:16 Team Impact



11:44 Business Awareness



16:02 How They Behave



18:34 Demonstrating Leadership



20:29 Advice for Engineering Managers



25:42 Summing it up!



26:18 Outro



Share your thoughts about the episode (and the podcast) at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) !