[technojunkie]

Middle management for software engineering has gone through a paradigm shift. The trend for businesses is flatter structures, manager roles with more responsibilities and this reality largely includes being as deep in the code as direct reports.

Since 2023, most roles I reviewed or interviewed for were player/coach roles, often close to 50/50 split. In my last EM role, I was hired for exactly this.

I found very few EM roles that are primarily managing with only "being in the code"; I can count on my hands out of hundreds of Engineering Manager roles. Probably closer to 95% or more EM roles require hands-on technical work similar to Tech Lead roles.

[oldandboring]

I have noticed this as well, and if you're interviewing at a startup, it's almost guaranteed to be a highly technical position. Either a hybrid EM/Tech Lead role or a hybrid EM/architect role.

[peterldowns]

True in my experience as well — and I think it’s a good thing but companies are way behind in preparing people to fill these roles.