Ways of Working

Career Growth & Levels

Foundational

Growing as an engineer means increasing your impact and scope, not just your years or how much code you write. Seniority means better judgement, broader ownership, and lifting others up — not working longer hours. Own your development, ask for feedback, and remember that helping the team succeed is itself senior behaviour.

For a mostly junior team, it helps to be clear about what growth looks like. The path is not "write more code." It is the size of the problems you can own and the impact you have through and on others. Junior engineers focus on building their craft on well-defined tasks. As you grow, you take on uncertainty, design, mentoring, and influence beyond your own keyboard. Your growth is a partnership: the company invests in you, and you drive it.

This builds on Continuous Learning (keep getting better), Feedback (how you improve), Ownership & Accountability, and Collaboration.

What growth actually means

DoAim to grow your impact and scope: from finishing well-defined tasks, to owning features, to shaping designs and lifting the team. Not just more code or more hours.
DoBuild judgement: get better at knowing what to build, what trade-offs to make, and when to ask. This is the main thing that separates senior from junior (see Estimation & Planning, Technical Debt).
DoGrow others as you grow. Mentoring, good reviews, sharing knowledge, and making the team better is senior behaviour, not a distraction from "real work" (see Code Ownership, Continuous Learning).
DoDevelop the non-code skills that increase your impact: communication, writing, collaboration, ownership (see Communication, Technical Writing).

Own your development

DoTake charge of your growth. Seek out stretch work, set goals, and do not wait to be handed development. The company supports it; you drive it.
DoAsk for feedback and act on it. It is the fastest way to improve, especially early on (see Giving & Receiving Feedback).
DoLearn on purpose and from others: read code, learn from incidents and reviews, and step outside your comfort zone (see Continuous Learning).
DoTalk openly with your manager about goals, progress, and what the next level looks like. Ask for the specifics.
AvoidTreating seniority as long hours, or as being the lone hero who keeps knowledge to themselves. Sustainable, shared impact is what grows over time (see Wellbeing & Sustainable Pace, Collaboration).

Self-review checklist

AskAm I growing the scope and impact of what I can own, or just doing more of the same?
AskAm I building judgement, and the communication and collaboration skills that increase impact?
AskAm I helping others grow, not just myself?
AskAm I actively seeking feedback and stretch work, and discussing my path with my manager?

Why it matters: A clear, healthy idea of growth keeps engineers developing and motivated. It points them toward the behaviours that actually create value — judgement, ownership, and lifting others — rather than empty output or burnout. For a junior team, making it clear that impact (not hours or code volume) is the path turns ambition in the right direction.