3 Differences between Software Engineers and Engineering Managers
On the face of it, to someone outside the industry, the life of a Software Engineer and an Engineer Manager might be almost indistinguishable. An Engineering Manager is just the best Software Engineer who is the boss… right?
With a more experienced and nuanced eye, this is very rarely true. I am certainly not the best Software Engineer on my team, or any team I have managed. I am proud of that. An Engineering Managers job is not to be the most capable technically on a team, it’s an Engineering Managers job to ensure the team is happy, safe and delivers business value.
Decision making.
As a Software Engineer, you and the team will need to be the technical experts of your infrastructure and technical estate. As a result of those technical expertises you are trusted and expected to make constant technical decisions about feature implementation, uphold technical standards and advocate for the long term technical strategy of the product.