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Career framework templates

Two career tracks, an engineering individual-contributor path and a people-manager path, with nine roles. Each expectation describes observable behavior, not personality traits, so it can be backed by evidence.

Engineering · Individual contributor

The individual-contributor path for engineers. A guideline for conversations, not a checklist. · 5 roles

Engineer I

Delivers well-defined tasks with guidance.

Craft: Delivers well-scoped changes with tests, asking for help when stuck.
System design: Explains how the parts they work on fit into the system.
Ownership: Follows their work through to release and fixes what they break.
Collaboration: Asks for and acts on code review feedback.
Communication: Keeps the team informed about progress and blockers.

Engineer II

Delivers features independently.

Craft: Delivers features end to end with little guidance and leaves the code better than they found it.
System design: Designs components within an existing system and documents the choices.
Ownership: Takes responsibility for a feature in production, including its bugs and alerts.
Collaboration: Reviews others' work constructively and pairs when useful.
Communication: Writes clear descriptions of their changes and decisions.

Senior Engineer

Leads significant work and raises the level of the team.

Craft: Sets the technical standard on the team through their own work and reviews.
System design: Designs systems spanning several components and explains the trade-offs to the team.
Ownership: Leads a project from ambiguity to delivery, including the parts nobody owned.
Collaboration: Works with product and other teams to shape what gets built.
Mentorship: Helps teammates grow through regular, specific guidance.

Staff Engineer

Shapes technical direction across teams.

Craft: Solves the technical problems others get stuck on and makes the solutions reusable.
System design: Designs systems spanning several teams and gets agreement on the trade-offs.
Ownership: Identifies the most important technical problems across teams and gets them solved.
Collaboration: Aligns several teams around a shared technical plan.
Mentorship: Grows senior engineers into technical leaders.

Principal Engineer

Sets technical direction for the organization.

Craft: Defines engineering practices the whole organization adopts.
System design: Sets the long-term architecture and explains it to technical and non-technical audiences.
Ownership: Takes responsibility for the organization's most critical technical risks.
Collaboration: Partners with leadership on technical strategy.
Mentorship: Builds a bench of technical leaders across the organization.

People manager

The path for people who lead teams. A guideline for conversations, not a checklist. · 4 roles

Team Lead

Leads a small team while still contributing directly.

People development: Holds regular 1:1s and gives each person specific feedback.
Team health: Notices when someone is struggling and acts on it.
Delivery: Plans the team's work so commitments are met most of the time.
Direction: Explains to the team why their work matters.
Communication: Keeps stakeholders informed about the team's progress and risks.

Manager

Leads a team and is responsible for its people and results.

People development: Agrees development goals with each person and follows up on them.
Team health: Builds a team where people raise problems early.
Delivery: Delivers the team's objectives and adjusts plans when things change.
Direction: Turns company objectives into clear team objectives.
Communication: Handles difficult conversations directly and with care.

Senior Manager

Leads several teams or a large team, often through other leads.

People development: Grows team leads and plans succession.
Team health: Keeps several teams working well together.
Delivery: Delivers objectives that span several teams.
Direction: Sets a direction for their area that the teams understand and share.
Communication: Represents their area clearly to leadership.

Director

Leads an area of the organization.

People development: Builds an organization that develops its own leaders.
Team health: Shapes the culture of their area deliberately.
Delivery: Balances investment across teams to meet the organization's objectives.
Direction: Contributes to company strategy and translates it for their area.
Communication: Communicates change so people understand it and can act on it.

Signature achievements

Achievements anyone can earn, whatever their role.

Incident Commander: Led the response to a significant production incident, from coordination to follow-up actions.
Mentor: Helped a colleague reach a meaningful milestone, such as their first release or a new responsibility.
Major Launch: Played a leading part in shipping something significant to customers.
Customer Rescue: Turned around a difficult situation for a customer.
Security Champion: Raised the security of a system or a team's practices in a lasting way.
Knowledge Sharer: Created something that helps many others learn: a talk, a guide, a workshop.
Onboarding Buddy: Guided a new colleague through their first months.
Process Improver: Changed how a team works in a way that saved real time or trouble.
Cross-team Bridge: Brought several teams together to solve something none could solve alone.
Culture Builder: Made the workplace better for others through a lasting initiative.

Install these tracks in MeritForge

MeritForge installs these tracks in English or Spanish as editable drafts, with an insignia for every role and readiness questions for every expectation.

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