This is maybe the single most asked question by software engineers. Engineering Manager (EM) is relatively a new role developed over a period of last 10 years approximately. The responsibilities of this role is not clear to many software engineers standing at the crossroad of their career. Let me try to break down based on my journey.

1. The EM vs IC myth

   The role of an Architect or a Principal Engineer is not that of an individual contributor. The higher an engineer climbs the career ladder, her success depends much on her ability to influence people and not contribute in a silo.

2. As an EM you read more code than write

   As an EM you will often have to review pull requests to ensure the quality of review comments and coding standards.

3. HLD (High Level Diagram) of a software Engineers career ladder

   https://bit.ly/3JU3a3X (inspired from here)

4. KRA of an Engineering Manager (not exhaustive)

   • Project management and tracking

   • Hiring and onboarding for the team members

   • Regular meeting with stakeholder to plan and review roadmap

   • Prioritise project backlogs and tech debts

   • Build a team culture of trust and empathy

   • Ensure quality (code reviews, code coverage)

   • Takes part in architectural reviews

   • Coach and mentor team members

   • Set goals and work on career planning of team members

   • Do performance appraisals

5. Typical day of an EM

   • Standups

   • Project planning / review meeting

   • PRD (product requirement document) walkthrough

   • Team 1-1's

   • Regular staff meetings with direct reports (weekly / monthly)

   • Architectural review meetings

   • Code reviews

   • Bug fixes (once in a while)

   • Interviews

This is no way an exhaustive list but a very high level view. Please comment if you feel I have missed any point.