The traits of top engineers

In the six years I have been in KMS I had the honor of promoting and hiring more than a dozen senior engineers for the org. Senior engineers in AWS core services are no joke. Because of the extreme ownership model we follow, the technical depth and breath a senior engineer needs to cover can be daunting. On top of that, we also have the famous leadership principles to measure their behaviors. So how did they get there? I’ve observed some common traits senior engineers seem to share: 1. The capability to learn. In most companies I was in, moving to senior positions basically means you have known enough of “what is going on” - your knowledge is the main reason you get promoted. Knowledge is certainly needed for moving up anywhere, but the more important trait of senior engineers in AWS is the skill and willingness to keep learning new things. What we know already is only the base of what we will have to know. From known to unknown, there is the capability to learn. I find most of my senior engineers have picular hobbies outside work: deep sea diving, roasting coffee beans, astrophotography and mountaineering etc. They like to be getting better and better at what they do. 2. Problem solving methodologies. Facing a problem, senior engineers rarely get stuck for very long. They shake here and there, try this and that and somehow can get going. I find senior engineers have all acquired some general problem solving methodologies: scientific method, data driven decision making, divide and conquer, first principle and iterative process etc. Problem solving does not have to be work specific. I remember we had a team hiking event in the Rockies. When folks got to the trail head it started to rain heavily. While other team members had no idea what to do next, a senior engineer used two SUV’s rear doors to set up a make shift tent and started brewing coffee using a camping stove. The whole team squeezed into the two SUV, listening to the rain, chatting and sipping hot coffee. That was a senior engineer in action: Invent and Simplify, Bias for Action and Deliver Results! It was the most memorable team event we had. 3. Communication skill. Senior engineers need to be good communicators, verbally and in writing. Senior engineers are force multipliers. To apply their influence, they need to communicate clearly and precisely. They mentor; they give tech talks; they share their vision and thoughts efficiently. 4. Growth mindset. Good engineers thrive on challenges and unknowns. They use failure as a springboard for growth and developing abilities. They are opinionated and open minded at the same time - we call that “Are right, a lot” in Amazon. “The ideal engineer is a composite … He is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist or a writer; but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems.” — Nathan W. Dougherty