What Tech Leads Actually Do
Curiosity & fundamentals
Independence & ownership
Architecture & leadership
Strategy & org impact
A Day in the Life
The Tech Lead role varies by company, but typically includes four core areas:
Technical Leadership (30-40%)
- Architecture decisions - Influencing system design and technical direction for the team
- Code reviews - Reviewing code for quality, architecture alignment, and best practices
- Technical standards - Setting coding standards, patterns, and engineering practices
- Technology evaluation - Evaluating new technologies, frameworks, and tools for the team
- Technical debt management - Identifying and prioritizing technical debt reduction
Hands-On Engineering (30-50%)
- Writing code - Still contributing significant production code, especially for complex work
- Building features - Implementing complex features and foundational systems
- Debugging - Solving difficult technical problems and production issues
- Technical design - Designing systems, APIs, and features before implementation
- Prototyping - Building proof-of-concepts for new approaches or technologies
Mentoring & Development (20-30%)
- Mentoring engineers - Helping engineers grow their technical skills
- Code pairing - Pairing with engineers on difficult problems or new concepts
- Technical guidance - Providing technical guidance and constructive feedback
- Knowledge sharing - Sharing knowledge through documentation, tech talks, or discussions
- Career conversations - Discussing technical growth paths with team members
Cross-Team Collaboration (10-20%)
- Working with other teams - Collaborating on cross-team initiatives and dependencies
- Stakeholder communication - Communicating technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders
- Project planning - Contributing to project planning, estimation, and scope discussions
- Engineering Manager partnership - Working closely with EM on team health and delivery
Tech Lead vs. Engineering Manager
This is one of the most common questions in hiring. The distinction matters because candidates often have strong preferences.
Tech Lead
- Focus: Technical direction, architecture, code quality, mentoring
- Coding: 50-80% of time writing production code
- People management: Minimal or none (no performance reviews, hiring decisions)
- Meetings: Fewer meetings, more maker time
- Career path: Often leads to Staff/Principal Engineer
Engineering Manager
- Focus: People management, team health, delivery, hiring
- Coding: 0-30% of time (often less)
- People management: Core responsibility (1:1s, performance, career development)
- Meetings: Many meetings, lots of context-switching
- Career path: Often leads to Director/VP Engineering
Where It Gets Confusing
Many companies blur these lines. Some "Tech Leads" manage people. Some "Engineering Managers" still code heavily. The title alone doesn't tell you the role.
In your JD and interviews, be explicit about:
- How much coding is expected (50%? 70%? 90%?)
- Whether the Tech Lead does any people management
- How Tech Lead and Engineering Manager work together
- What authority the Tech Lead has over technical decisions
Tech Lead vs. Staff Engineer
Another common comparison. Both are senior IC roles, but with different emphases.
Tech Lead
- Scope: Single team (5-10 engineers)
- Focus: Team's technical direction, code quality, mentoring
- Impact: Team-level architecture and practices
- Leadership: Direct influence through daily collaboration
- Coding: 50-80% of time
Staff Engineer
- Scope: Multiple teams or organization-wide
- Focus: Cross-team architecture, technical strategy
- Impact: Organization-level systems and standards
- Leadership: Influence through expertise and communication
- Coding: 40-70% of time (more variable)
Which Do You Need?
- Tech Lead: When you need someone to lead a specific team's technical direction and mentor engineers daily
- Staff Engineer: When you need someone to solve cross-team problems, define org-wide standards, or tackle complex architectural challenges
Some companies have both: Staff Engineers who work across teams, and Tech Leads who own specific team direction.
Tech Lead Archetypes: Know What You Need
Architecture-Focused Tech Lead
- Focuses on system design and architecture decisions
- Makes high-level technical choices that shape the codebase
- Common at companies with complex distributed systems
- Risk: May lose touch with day-to-day code if not careful
Code Quality Tech Lead
- Focuses on code quality, standards, and engineering practices
- Strong emphasis on code review and technical mentoring
- Common at companies prioritizing code quality and maintainability
- Risk: May focus too much on code, not enough on architecture or delivery
Feature Tech Lead
- Leads feature development end-to-end from design to deployment
- Balances technical leadership with feature delivery
- Common at product-focused companies and startups
- Risk: May focus too much on delivery, not enough on technical leadership or mentoring
Player-Coach Tech Lead
- Manages a small team (2-4 people) while remaining hands-on
- Common at companies transitioning engineers from IC to manager
- Risk: Neither role gets full attention; often a transitional state
Be explicit in your JD about which type you need. Candidates will self-select based on their preferences.
Where to Find Tech Lead Candidates
Internal Promotion
The most common path. Promote strong senior engineers who show leadership aptitude and desire.
Pros:
- Knows your codebase, team, and culture
- Proven track record at your company
- Lower risk—you've seen them work
Cons:
- May lack management training or leadership experience
- Team dynamics change when peer becomes lead
- May not want the role (important to ask)
External Hiring
Where to find external Tech Leads:
- LinkedIn - Search for "Tech Lead" or "Lead Software Engineer" titles
- GitHub - Look for contributors who maintain popular projects or mentor others
- Engineering blogs - Authors who write about architecture, team practices, or mentoring
- Conference speakers - People who share technical knowledge publicly
- Your network - Referrals from engineers who've worked with great Tech Leads
- daily.dev - Developers who engage with technical content and leadership topics
Signals of Tech Lead potential:
- Open source maintainer (shows code review and community leadership)
- Technical blog posts (shows communication and teaching ability)
- Mentoring on platforms like ADPList (shows interest in developing others)
- Conference talks (shows communication skills)
- Glowing references from engineers they've mentored
Interview Focus Areas
Technical Depth
- Strong software engineering skills (can still write production code)
- System design and architecture capability
- Understanding of your tech stack and domain
- Ability to evaluate and explain trade-offs
Technical Leadership
- How they influence technical decisions without authority
- Code review philosophy and feedback quality
- Setting technical standards and practices
- Technology evaluation and selection approach
Mentoring & Development
- Specific examples of engineers they've helped grow
- Code pairing and knowledge sharing practices
- How they provide constructive technical feedback
- Building technical culture on teams
Communication & Collaboration
- Communicating technical concepts to different audiences
- Working with non-technical stakeholders
- Cross-team collaboration and conflict resolution
- Balancing technical and business needs
Common Hiring Mistakes
1. Promoting Great Engineers Who Don't Want to Lead
Technical excellence ≠ leadership desire or aptitude. The best coders often want to stay deep in code, not mentor others or lead technical direction. Ask directly: "Why do you want to be a Tech Lead instead of a Staff Engineer?"
2. Treating Tech Leads as "Glorified Senior Engineers"
Tech Leads need leadership skills: mentoring, influencing, communicating, building consensus. Don't just promote your best coder—ensure they want to lead and have shown leadership behaviors.
3. Not Testing Leadership Skills
"Tell me about architecture" tests technical knowledge. "Tell me about engineers you've mentored and how they grew" tests leadership. Test both in interviews.
4. Ignoring Communication Skills
Tech Leads communicate with engineers, managers, product managers, and executives. They need to explain technical concepts clearly to different audiences. Include communication assessment in your process.
5. Vague Coding Expectations
"Tech Leads sometimes code" is vague. "You'll spend 60% of your time coding" is clear. Misalignment here leads to frustrated Tech Leads who either code too much or too little.
Red Flags in Tech Lead Candidates
- Only talks about their own code - Tech Leads develop others, not just ship code
- Can't explain technical decisions - Communication is core to the role
- Hasn't mentored anyone - Leadership requires developing others
- Adversarial relationship with managers - Tech Leads partner with managers
- Only focuses on code quality - Should think about architecture, delivery, and team growth
- Doesn't ask about team - Great Tech Leads want to understand who they'll lead
- Can't discuss trade-offs - Tech Leads make decisions with incomplete information
- No interest in teaching - Tech Leads spend significant time helping others learn
- Micromanages technical decisions - Good Tech Leads set direction, not dictate every choice
The Tech Lead Career Path
Tech Lead is a pivotal role that can lead to multiple career paths:
Technical Path
Tech Lead → Staff Engineer → Principal Engineer → Distinguished Engineer
Some Tech Leads progress deeper into technical work, moving toward Staff or Principal roles where they influence architecture across multiple teams or the entire organization.
Management Path
Tech Lead → Engineering Manager → Director → VP Engineering
Others use Tech Lead as a stepping stone to people management, discovering they enjoy developing people as much as code.
Executive Path
Tech Lead → Staff Engineer → CTO (at startup)
In startups, Tech Leads sometimes become founding CTOs, combining technical vision with leadership.
When hiring, understand what your candidates want from their careers. Those seeking management paths benefit from leadership development opportunities. Those seeking technical paths benefit from architecture exposure and mentorship from Staff/Principal engineers.
Compensation Considerations
Tech Lead compensation varies by seniority and location.
US Market (2026)
- Mid-level Tech Lead: $150,000 - $190,000 base
- Senior Tech Lead: $190,000 - $250,000 base
- Staff-level Tech Lead: $240,000 - $320,000 base
Total compensation at top companies (base + equity + bonus) can reach $350K-$450K+ for senior Tech Leads.
Compensation Positioning
Tech Leads typically earn similar to Staff Engineers at the same level—reflecting their individual contributor nature with additional leadership responsibilities.
What Attracts Top Tech Leads
Competitive compensation plus:
- Interesting technical challenges (not just CRUD apps)
- Opportunity to influence architecture decisions
- Team of strong engineers to lead and learn from
- Clear career path (whether technical or management)
- Autonomy over technical direction
Developer Expectations
| Aspect | ✓ What They Expect | ✗ What Breaks Trust |
|---|---|---|
| Technical Authority | →Real influence over architecture decisions, technology choices, and coding standards. Ability to set technical direction for the team without being overruled by non-technical stakeholders on technical matters. | ⚠Being a "Tech Lead" in title only with no actual authority. Having technical decisions made by managers who don't code. Being held accountable for outcomes without power to influence technical direction. |
| Coding Time | →Clear, protected time for hands-on coding—typically 50-70% of work time. Ability to work on interesting technical challenges, not just reviewing others' code and attending meetings. | ⚠Promised coding time that disappears into meetings. Being pulled into management work without compensation or title change. Becoming a "glorified project manager" instead of technical leader. |
| Team Quality | →Leading a team of capable engineers who are motivated and collaborative. Influence over hiring decisions and ability to address performance issues through partnership with Engineering Manager. | ⚠Inheriting a struggling team with no support to improve it. No input on hiring or team composition. Being expected to "fix" a dysfunctional team without authority or resources. |
| Engineering Manager Partnership | →Clear role division with the Engineering Manager—Tech Lead owns technical direction, EM owns people management. Collaborative relationship with mutual respect and aligned goals. | ⚠Turf wars with Engineering Manager over responsibilities. Unclear boundaries leading to dropped balls or duplicated work. EM overriding technical decisions without engineering expertise. |
| Growth Path | →Clear career progression whether toward Staff/Principal Engineer (technical track) or Engineering Manager (management track). Exposure to architecture decisions and leadership development opportunities. | ⚠Dead-end role with no advancement path. Expected to stay Tech Lead forever without growth. No exposure to org-wide architecture or leadership development. |