Career Ladder Inspiration · Engineering
CircleCI's engineering career framework
Engineering competency matrix from CircleCI covering 6 competency areas across 5 levels. Notable for including Security Awareness as a core competency area.
Company CircleCI|Year 2026|Discipline Engineering|Tracks TBD|License
Scroll horizontally to explore all 5 levels
Clone this templateEngineer I | Engineer II | Senior Engineer | Staff Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skills Technical Skill | Developing foundational engineering skills. Writes functional code with guidance. Learning team tools, testing practices, and coding standards. | Writes clean, maintainable code independently. Understands system design basics. Applies testing best practices consistently. Growing expertise in their area. | Deep expertise in their technical domain. Designs and implements complex features. Identifies and drives quality improvements. Considers security, performance, and scalability proactively. | Expert across multiple domains. Architects complex, distributed systems. Sets technical standards across teams. Drives adoption of engineering best practices organization-wide. | Industry-level expertise. Defines the company's technical vision and architecture. Creates novel solutions to the most complex challenges. Shapes industry practices. |
Skills Delivery | Completes well-scoped tasks with support. Learning to estimate work accurately. Follows team processes. | Delivers features independently. Breaks down work into manageable pieces. Estimates accurately. Ships reliably with minimal oversight. | Leads delivery of complex projects. Manages risk and dependencies. Consistently delivers high-impact work on time. Balances speed with quality. | Drives delivery of strategic, cross-team initiatives. Creates processes that improve organizational delivery velocity. Accountable for critical project outcomes. | Drives delivery of company-defining technical initiatives. Establishes delivery standards that scale across the organization. |
Skills Problem Solving | Solves defined problems with guidance. Learning to debug and troubleshoot effectively. | Solves moderately complex problems independently. Identifies root causes. Proposes solutions and implements them. | Tackles highly ambiguous problems. Breaks down complex challenges into actionable plans. Creates reusable patterns and frameworks. | Solves the most complex cross-team problems. Anticipates future challenges and addresses them proactively. Simplifies complexity. | Defines and solves problems that shape the company's trajectory. Creates new approaches to previously unsolved challenges. |
Skills Communication | Communicates status and asks questions when blocked. Learning to give and receive feedback. | Communicates proactively about progress. Gives thoughtful code review feedback. Explains technical decisions clearly. | Communicates complex ideas to diverse audiences. Facilitates technical discussions. Drives alignment within and across teams. | Communicates technical vision at the organizational level. Influences decisions through clear, data-driven arguments. Bridges engineering and business. | Communicates at the executive and industry level. Shapes company narratives around technical strategy. |
Skills Security Awareness | Understands basic security principles. Follows secure coding guidelines. | Applies security best practices in their work. Identifies common vulnerabilities. Participates in security reviews. | Champions security within their team. Designs systems with security as a first-class concern. Mentors others on secure development practices. | Drives security standards across the organization. Identifies and mitigates systemic security risks. Collaborates with security teams on strategy. | Defines the organization's security posture and strategy. Recognized as a security authority. Drives industry best practices. |
Skills Mentorship & Leadership | Seeks mentorship. Supports teammates. Participates in team activities. | Mentors newer engineers. Participates in hiring. Contributes to team culture and processes. | Mentors multiple engineers. Leads technical design discussions. Actively contributes to hiring and onboarding. Drives team culture. | Grows senior engineers. Leads cross-team initiatives. Shapes engineering culture. Drives organizational improvements. | Builds the next generation of technical leaders. Defines engineering values and culture. Represents the company externally. |
Framework by CircleCI · Licensed
View sourceMore engineering frameworks
Artsy
Engineering career ladder from Artsy covering 12 competency areas across 5 IC levels from Engineer 1 to Staff Engineer. Based on their open-source GitHub framework.
Blendle
Career growth matrix for Technology and Engineering roles at Blendle. Covers competencies across Work, Drive, and Fit categories with 3 proficiency levels.
Capgemini
Software engineering grade ladder from Capgemini covering 6 competency areas across 5 levels. Created by UK engineering teams to understand ethos, values, and expectations at each level.