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Free course · 20 lessons · Advanced

The Engineering Manager Handbook (Development Manager)

A practical course for engineering managers and development managers: the manager operating system, the first 90 days with a new team, measuring delivery with DORA and SPACE, reporting up, role scorecards, structured interviews, interview loops, hiring-funnel maths, closing and onboarding, career ladders, performance reviews and calibration, improvement plans, promotion and pay conversations, retention, team design with Team Topologies, headcount and capacity planning, OKRs with product, and communicating change — with scenarios, scripts, templates and runnable models.

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1. The Engineering Manager's Job

What an engineering manager (development manager) is accountable for, the manager operating system, the first 90 days with a new team, measuring delivery without gaming it, and reporting up.

  1. The Manager's Operating System — Turn a reactive calendar into a deliberate system of cadences — 1:1s, team rituals, planning, reviews and reporting — so nothing important depends on memory.
  2. The First 90 Days With a New Team — Take over a team as a new manager: learn before changing, build relationships, find the real problems and set priorities you can deliver.
  3. Measuring Delivery Without Gaming It — Use DORA's delivery metrics and the SPACE framework to understand team performance — computed from real data — without turning them into targets.
  4. Reporting Up and Representing Your Teams — Give leadership an accurate, concise picture of your teams — progress, risks, people and asks — so they can make good decisions and advocate for you.

2. Hiring

Role scorecards, structured interviews that reduce bias, interview loops and calibration, hiring-funnel maths, and closing and onboarding.

  1. Defining the Role: Scorecards — Before posting a job, write down what the person must achieve and which competencies matter — so every interviewer evaluates the same thing.
  2. Structured Interviews and Reducing Bias — Ask every candidate the same planned questions and score them against a rubric — it predicts job performance better and reduces bias.
  3. Interview Loops and Calibration — Design an interview loop that covers every competency once, run debriefs on evidence, and keep the hiring bar consistent across interviewers and teams.
  4. Hiring Funnel Maths — Work backwards from the hires you need to the candidates and interviewer hours required — and find where your funnel leaks.
  5. Closing Candidates and 30-60-90 Onboarding — Win strong candidates with a fast, honest close, and set new hires up with a clear 30-60-90 plan so the hire actually succeeds.

3. Performance and Growth

Career ladders and expectations, performance reviews and calibration, underperformance and improvement plans, promotion and compensation conversations, and retention.

  1. Career Ladders and Clear Expectations — Use a career ladder to make expectations at each level explicit — so growth conversations, reviews and promotions are fair and predictable.
  2. Performance Reviews and Calibration — Write fair, evidence-based reviews with no surprises, and calibrate across managers so ratings mean the same thing everywhere.
  3. Managing Underperformance and Improvement Plans — Address sustained underperformance fairly: clear expectations, real support and a documented plan — following company policy and local law.
  4. Promotion and Compensation Conversations — Build promotion cases on evidence, handle 'not yet' honestly, and talk about pay with data and transparency within your company's rules.
  5. Retention and Regretted Attrition — Spot flight risks early, understand why good people leave, and invest in retention before the resignation letter — with a model of what attrition really costs.

4. Organisation and Strategy

Team design and cognitive load, headcount and capacity planning, roadmaps and OKRs with product, and communicating change honestly.

  1. Team Design and Cognitive Load — Design teams around the flow of work and a manageable cognitive load, using Team Topologies' team types and interaction modes.
  2. Headcount and Capacity Planning — Plan headcount from real capacity, ramp-up time and team structure — and avoid the trap of adding people to a late project.
  3. Roadmaps and OKRs With Product — Align engineering work with business outcomes using OKRs and a roadmap that includes technical investment — owned jointly with product.
  4. Communicating Change: Reorgs and Hard News — Announce reorganisations and difficult decisions honestly and respectfully — what's changing, why, what it means for each person, and what isn't decided yet.

5. Capstone Case Studies

Take over a struggling team, and plan headcount and a reorganisation for an organisation that must double.

  1. Capstone: Take Over a Struggling Team — You inherit a team with slow delivery, high attrition and low trust. Diagnose, plan your first 90 days and set measurable goals.
  2. Capstone: Plan Headcount and a Reorg for Doubling the Organisation — A 40-engineer product organisation must double in a year. Design the hiring plan, the team structure and the communication.