The thing about leveling: are you SDE I, II or III?

Today I want to talk about leveling. In SDE world, I am referring to SDE I, II, III and above. I will use SDE role’s leveling as an example in this essay but I use the same mental model for general role leveling. I find the key differentiator between levels is “how” candidates solve problems and “what” kind of problems they have solved in their narratives. A SDE I typically solves clearly defined problems with well defined solutions. If they are oncall, a SDE I is expected to solve problems with “runbooks”. A SDE II is expected to solve problems that are somewhat ambiguous. Their solutions are known but not quite the same. A SDE II can tailor the solutions into the context they are in. When they are oncall, a SDE II is expected to solve problems that might diverge from the runbooks. They are adaptive. A SDE III (Sr. Engineer in Amazon) is expected to solve problems that are not well defined. Their solutions are not obvious. They can make balanced trade offs among conflicting constraints. They can break new ground, find new path, and work out novel and innovative solutions. When they are oncall, they can solve problems without runbooks. Then they write the runbooks. A SDE III establishes processes when there is no process. They don’t just solve one problem, they solve one type of problems through appropriate abstraction and generalization. They are usually the authors of reusable frameworks. What is next? For engineers in Amazon, the next level is Principal Engineer (PE). We expect a PE to be a brave leader in engineering. They solve problems that might be ground breaking in the industry. They set the right architecture for a product in the next X years. They think in long terms. Levels beyond PE? I can only guess these dimensions. Above architecture there are organization structure, because organization structure decides software architecture. Above organization structure, there are organization culture: “the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in an organization, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in the organization” And above culture, there are time and space, the entirety of human history and the infinite universe. In all levels there are two qualities that are essential. The humbleness to know one’s own limits and the curiosity to learn and grow. “I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.” Zhuangzi