Career Ladder Inspiration · Design
Sourcegraph's design career framework
Design career development framework from Sourcegraph covering 4 competency areas across 4 IC levels. Uses the same Impact, Scope, Execution, Teamwork pillars as their engineering framework.
IC2 - Product Designer | IC3 - Senior Designer | IC4 - Staff Designer | IC5 - Senior Staff Designer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Skills Impact | Clarifies project scope and delivers design work for medium to large features in existing products. | Drives clarity on highly technical, open-ended projects. Delivers design solutions for complex product challenges. | Delivers design work that has significant positive impact on the product organization. Defines design strategy for their area. | Delivers design work that changes the trajectory of the product. Defines company-wide design strategy and vision. |
Skills Scope | Primarily focuses on their team's features and product. Strong generalist skill set. Starting to develop design expertise areas. | Works across product areas. Demonstrates specialized design skills on top of general knowledge. Identifies non-obvious gaps in the product. | Deep expertise across multiple product areas. Works across team boundaries. Identifies and pursues design opportunities that benefit the broader organization. | Expertise spans the entire product organization. Defines design standards and patterns used company-wide. Shapes long-term product design direction. |
Skills Execution | Represents the product to peers directly in small groups. Gathers feedback and iterates on designs effectively. | Drives design clarity across teams. Creates design systems and patterns that enable consistency and speed. | Consistently drives clarity on complex, multi-team design projects. Creates processes that improve organizational design practice. | Establishes design standards across the organization. Drives the most critical and complex design initiatives. |
Skills Teamwork | Actively contributes to a collaborative team culture. Collaborates with engineering and PM partners effectively. | Helps build team cohesion by advocating for design and engineering needs. Mentors teammates on design practices. | Multiplies effectiveness of the design team. Facilitates cross-functional collaboration. Helps others understand company direction and detects misalignments. | Shapes design culture. Builds the next generation of design leaders. Represents the company externally as a design thought leader. |
Framework by Sourcegraph · Licensed
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