What I Bring to the Table as an Engineering Leader #

A recent conversation with a hiring manager surfaced a great point: my resume doesn't fully capture the scope of my management experience. That feedback was invaluable, and prompted me to step back and better articulate what I've done, how I operate, and what I bring to any organization.

This post serves as a more complete picture of my leadership experience for those evaluating me for a senior engineering leadership role.

People like to Work With Me #

In every role I've held, I've retained people longer than average, and have brought people along with me. When I left CoStar, the average tenure of my 24-person team was 5 years. Most of the individuals on my team had worked with me for more than half a decade. One individual had been working with me for 12 years when I finally left. I hired someone into that team that I worked with a Lynda.com. After leaving CoStar, I brought two people into InVision. I've hired two people into Virtuous that I worked with at CoStar on other supporting teams and continue to mentor and keep in touch with prior employees from all of my roles. I make it easier for people to do their best work, and they enjoy working with me.

People Management Is My Strongest Suit #

If there's one area where I bring the most depth, it's people management. I've spent over a decade leading engineering teams through growth, change, and challenging transitions.

I've supported engineers through all kinds of career development; promotions, lateral shifts, and "N-shaped" moves that better aligned their strengths with company needs. One of my proudest moments was supporting an employee through a decade-long journey from Customer Support to QA, then into engineering, and finally into an Engineering Manager role. Watching that transformation and having a hand in it remains one of the highlights of my career.

I’ve also handled the hard parts of leadership. I’ve let go of underperforming managers when the role called for stronger leadership. I’ve had to manage out engineers after investing deeply in their success. And I’ve led multiple rounds of layoffs, holding separation meetings for nearly two dozen engineers in one day. An painful experience I’ll never forget.

Through it all, I've operated with care, clarity, and ownership. I don't need micromanagement or detailed instruction. Work with me to figure out where we're going and I'll move decisively, bringing my teams with me.

Deep Technical Experience, Guiding Execution #

While I no longer write code daily, I bring deep technical experience shaped by years of full-stack development experience. My strongest technical contributions are in backend architecture and in helping teams improve their development velocity, manage complexity, and reduce cycle time.

I won't pretend I'm hands-on with the latest front-end frameworks or writing production code anymore, that's not where I provide the most value. Instead, I focus on ensuring that my teams are architecting systems responsibly, balancing delivery speed with long-term maintainability, and making sound trade-offs.

I rely on my senior ICs - Leads, Staff, and Principal Engineers - to dive into implementation details. My job is to make sure they have the context, space, and support to do their best work.

Clear, Candid, and Nuanced Judgment #

I believe clarity is kindness. I'm not afraid to say "I don't know," and I don't shy away from hard conversations. If I think we're heading in the wrong direction, I'll say so with candor, care, respect, and a focus on getting to the best decision.

Over the years, I've earned the trust to run toward ambiguity, operate with autonomy, and make judgment calls that balance short-term needs with long-term vision. I know when to push, when to pause, and when to let go.

Deep Roots in Startup Environments #

My career has been shaped in startups and small teams. I joined Land.com as employee number five, taking over from the technical founder as the only engineer. I helped scale that engineerin team to 30 people and supported two acquisitions along the way. At InVision, I watched the engineering org grow and shrink, experiencing the highs of rapid growth and the lows of layoffs firsthand. I'm now at a company of under 200 employees, working in an EPD org of 30.

I love fast-moving teams, and I know how to grow them responsibly.

Leading Multiple Teams and Workstreams #

Since 2015, I've consistently led more than one autonomous team at a time. Today, I manage 12 direct reports across four teams, each working on different product lines. I stay close enough to understand the goals, risks, and progress, while giving each team the space they need to execute and grow.

It's a balancing act I've been refining for nearly a decade.

In Closing #

I'm not just looking for a job. I'm looking for a company where I can make a real impact, support incredible people, and help build something meaningful.