doxel_fe_tlm_scorecard.md

Doxel Sr. Engineering Manager, Product

We will grade every sub-bullet on a 1-5 scale:

1. Candidate cannot do this now, and unlikely to learn in <6 months.
2. Candidate cannot do this now but likely to learn in <6 months.
3. Candidate has some experience doing this, or will be adequate in <1 month.
4. Candidate seems quite strong at this.
5. Candidate is stellar at this.

Looking for an Engineering Manager who is, or can rapidly become...

(note: it's impossible for one person to be a 5 on all of these. That is not the expectation. The expectation is that this rubric helps interviewers get real data so they can score 1-5 on each item instead of being wishy-washy in feedback. That said, this is an ordered list - #1 is more important than, #2, #3…)

1. Extraordinary executor
   1. Has shipped reasonably complex projects on time with small teams, ideally multiple in parallel. Lives the agile mindset and iterates very quickly by interacting with Product, Design, and other stakeholders. Has scars to prove it.
   2. "In-the-weeds" when necessary, e.g. building out a new team. Comfortable running sprint plannings, standups, retros, and any other levers to ensure smooth execution. Always has their eye-on-the-ball on the most critical project.
   3. "Out-of-the-weeds" when necessary. Partners well with a senior Feature Lead. Runs a process to keep projects on track, identifies risks and long-poles, and trains leads to trade-off features/quality/deadlines. Has good nuance on over-process vs under-process. Does not micromanage, or under-manage.
   4. "Ship-it" mentality. Experience with startup velocity and tradeoffs. Demonstrated business-value vs. engineering-need trade-off evaluation. Has a knack for finding shortcuts that speed up the business without too much technical debt. Leans on demos/prototypes to accelerate sales + product teams.
   5. Intuitively understands #Winning and #IncreasingCapacityToWin. Chronically discontent and wants to move faster. Focuses on impact, business-value, and continually figuring out how to move faster/build more leverage. Strong decision maker with right amount of consensus-building.
2. Strategic Product Leader
   1. Significant experience working directly with customers to understand their needs. Can translate engineering speak to cutomer speak and back flawlessly.
   2. Interfaces well with Product and Design, helping them improve their own work using his/her engineering expertise. Understands the domain almost as well as Product Managers.
   3. Comfortable representing the engineering team in executive meetings and customer meetings. Can tie the day-to-day work their team is doing to the overall company goals flawlessly.
   4. Not afraid of debate and conflict. "Obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly"
   5. Great eye for product experience. Can put on a Designer hat if needed. Familiar with UX concepts, best practices, and experimentation loops. Doesn't execute what is given if it is the wrong level of quality.
3. Top-shelf team & talent producer
   1. Builds high-performing Product teams. Can tell the difference between average teams and really good teams. Has 'better-than-random' approaches to building high-performing teams. Has done this multiple times (preferably >2). Philosophy agrees with what Doxel's Product and Engineering leadership wants.
   2. Talent farmer: track record of growing Sr+ engineers (bonus: Staff+ engineers). Has frameworks for identifying strengths/weaknesses, can reason about career growth intelligently, and has demonstrated wide range of tools used in growing talent. Can coach new engineering managers and get them to "great" in 6 months.
   3. Talent magnet: track record of attracting Sr+ engineers (bonus: Staff+ engineers). Can quickly identify strength of engineer + fit on the team. Excellent top-grader and can accurately paint the team, their company, and the opportunity in ways that attract candidates without setting false expectations.
   4. Can build a team from scratch (0-5 in <6 months). Understands the risks of rapid growth and has techniques to mitigate.
   5. Bonus points if they have accomplished ^^^ with a primarily remote-first team. COVID and all...
4. Strong technologist
   1. Has built multiple, complex products, ideally across both UI and backend. Has either deep experience in one area or solid breadth across multiple.
   2. Can speak intelligently about API approaches, database schemas, language choices, FE vs BE responsibilities...
   3. Data-driven. Knows what kind of customer metrics to track and how to interpret them. Makes technical decisions based off of real data. Loves building data visualizations. Bonus points for being an Edward Tufte fan.
   4. Production expertise. Knows how to manage real products in production so they have a high level of reliability and performance. Ideally intimately familiar with monitoring tools and pays attention to performance, uptime, customer experience, etc. Product/leadership doesn't need to remind her/him to keep the product responsive.
   5. Quick learner. Can pick up new technologies, tools, etc and integrate them into their team and codebase.

Core values (see Doxel Core Values map)

• Intellectual honesty
• Ownership
• Decisiveness/hunger
• Humbleness
• Empathy