David runs every Beacon leadership search personally, including Engineering Manager placements.
Both are senior tracks, both come with real influence, and they get confused constantly, especially when a company is designing its first leveling structure. The difference isn't seniority, it's what the influence is built on: people, or systems.
Which one you're actually hiringOwns a team's delivery and growth, has direct reports, and is accountable for hiring, performance, and the health of the people on the team, alongside real technical judgment.
No direct reports. Influence comes from technical judgment that shapes decisions across multiple teams, architecture calls, and the standards other engineers build against.
Some of the best individual-contributor engineers make poor managers, not because they lack talent, but because the two tracks require genuinely different daily work. Forcing a strong Staff Engineer into a management track to "reward" them, without checking whether they actually want people responsibility, is one of the most common and costly leveling mistakes at growing companies.
The gap is people-related: no one owns hiring, performance, or team health for a growing group of engineers.
The gap is technical: decisions are being made inconsistently across teams, and you need someone whose judgment other engineers trust and build against.
Ask a candidate directly whether they want to own people or own systems. The honest answer tells you more than any title on their resume.
David runs every Beacon leadership search personally, including Engineering Manager placements.
Book a 15-minute call. We'll help you scope the actual gap before you write a job description.
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