Working as a Software Development Manager
Discussion
I have been working as a Full stack Developer for over 10 years now and recently got a job offer for the Software Development Manager role in a different company (60% development – 40% management).
I have been using .Net, SQL Server and ORACLE for long time now. I will be managing a small team of 3, company mainly uses third Oracle based WMS (warehouse management system) and most of the in house work is integration and Reporting. My only concern is that I might not be able to fully utilize my development skills in this role but at the positive side I will be managing a small team of developers and a support person.
I will have to relocate with family and kids, there is only a 5k pay difference but I have been told that there will be a 20% bonus (I am not banking on it).
Just wondering if it is worth considering this offer? I like programming but I have to keep myself up to date with latest technologies which is not easy to do with family and kids. Don’t know if Development Management role will be less stressful.
Would appreciate if some can share his experience of moving into Management from a Software Development and what sort of challenges he/she had to face.
I have been using .Net, SQL Server and ORACLE for long time now. I will be managing a small team of 3, company mainly uses third Oracle based WMS (warehouse management system) and most of the in house work is integration and Reporting. My only concern is that I might not be able to fully utilize my development skills in this role but at the positive side I will be managing a small team of developers and a support person.
I will have to relocate with family and kids, there is only a 5k pay difference but I have been told that there will be a 20% bonus (I am not banking on it).
Just wondering if it is worth considering this offer? I like programming but I have to keep myself up to date with latest technologies which is not easy to do with family and kids. Don’t know if Development Management role will be less stressful.
Would appreciate if some can share his experience of moving into Management from a Software Development and what sort of challenges he/she had to face.
I've done it and to be honest I would think very carefully about it in your position.
1) They have given you a small team. 3 guys. It's not really a management position. More of a Team Leader. Or even just a Senior Developer.
I would say that a real Software Development manager role is rewarding, but it's definitely not less stressful. You are the one who is responsible for delivery, you will be catching all the flak for any issues with the system; you will have to say "no" when given unrealistic timescales; you will be required to shield the programmers from interference; you will have to fight for training budgets.
Now, I've worked for many companies where the programmers themselves had to do a lot of the above, however, once you actually fill the management role you suddenly discover just how much flak you weren't seeing - at least if you had a decent boss.
However the role you mention sounds to me like a classic "cake and eat it" on the part of the employer. They are looking to add a third programmer and get a manager for free (or vice versa). That is going to basically mean you have double the stress. You will not be able to escape into the code - after all you are the boss. Nor will you be able to leave the project delivery worries at the door - you're the boss. But equally, you can't relax your learning on new technology, nor can you focus on the actual management work as you have code to write - because you're also a programmer.
To be honest, it sounds to be like the worst of both worlds and for a tiny (by comparison) pay rise too.
It might have been worth it, as a first rung into management if
a) You hadn't noted a desire to get away from stress
b) You didn't have to relocate
My personal opinion would be to keep looking.
1) They have given you a small team. 3 guys. It's not really a management position. More of a Team Leader. Or even just a Senior Developer.
- How much authority will you really have?
- Is it really three guys, or as you mention a support person is it two programmers and a helpdesk call answering bod? Two programmers means that if one is on holiday and one off sick ... you are on your tod.
- How is the 40%/60% allocated - full days developing, or will you be available to all and sundry all the time? I think I can guess.
- Will you be happy when you realise in six months time you can't remember large chunks of the full stack, because you've just been writing reports?
- That's chump change, you could get that swapping roles surely? Or are you overpaid where you are now? Have you included all your other costs - it will be £10K or so to move house for starters.
- With half your working week taken away, are you going to be totally left behind? Probably. Which means that you are a one-way ticket out of development. Once you stop doing things: you get rusty; the keyboard shortcuts begin to evaporate from your fingers; new ways of working occur which you never heard of
I would say that a real Software Development manager role is rewarding, but it's definitely not less stressful. You are the one who is responsible for delivery, you will be catching all the flak for any issues with the system; you will have to say "no" when given unrealistic timescales; you will be required to shield the programmers from interference; you will have to fight for training budgets.
Now, I've worked for many companies where the programmers themselves had to do a lot of the above, however, once you actually fill the management role you suddenly discover just how much flak you weren't seeing - at least if you had a decent boss.
However the role you mention sounds to me like a classic "cake and eat it" on the part of the employer. They are looking to add a third programmer and get a manager for free (or vice versa). That is going to basically mean you have double the stress. You will not be able to escape into the code - after all you are the boss. Nor will you be able to leave the project delivery worries at the door - you're the boss. But equally, you can't relax your learning on new technology, nor can you focus on the actual management work as you have code to write - because you're also a programmer.
To be honest, it sounds to be like the worst of both worlds and for a tiny (by comparison) pay rise too.
It might have been worth it, as a first rung into management if
a) You hadn't noted a desire to get away from stress
b) You didn't have to relocate
My personal opinion would be to keep looking.
A very good response from Flooble, just a few random additions to think about.
Do you expect the company/IT team to grow? Because a team of three will not count for a lot in the experience stakes.
What will count is the actual management duties you undertake, things like proper appraisal, budgets, contracts, Data Protection, IT Policies, etc.
Remember the best IT Managers are near invisible when things are going well and helpful not hindering when things are not.
Do they have a good reason for not promoting from within? This will give you a good insight to your future prospects within the company.
Do you expect the company/IT team to grow? Because a team of three will not count for a lot in the experience stakes.
What will count is the actual management duties you undertake, things like proper appraisal, budgets, contracts, Data Protection, IT Policies, etc.
Remember the best IT Managers are near invisible when things are going well and helpful not hindering when things are not.
Do they have a good reason for not promoting from within? This will give you a good insight to your future prospects within the company.
Many thanks for your response Flobble and 4x4Tyke.
Role is actually divided into three different areas, 1) Getting client requirements 2) Project planning and managing team 3) Integration and development work.
The Head of IT doing most of the things at the moment, they hired one contractor one year ago and there is one other junior developer and a support person in the team.
Company provides logistics and distribution services and their turnover is about £25m, they are expanding so workload will increase.
I have about 4 yrs supply chain experience, but it was more to do with developing in house supply chain solution in .Net & Oracle, here it in this company i will just be doing ORACLE and reporting stuff no .Net
They will probably rid off the contractor after I join them but I will have an authority to hire a new contractor in the future even off shore ones if work load increases.
I will be doing appraisal, mentoring and training junior staff, some of the other stuffs like
• Providing hands-on management in leading, managing and supporting software application development to meet the needs of the business.
• Change management and Maintain the security and auditing of systems
• Participating in the delivery of customer service, SLAs
• Providing development and support to team members with training and education
• Keeping up to date knowledge of application software, operating systems and standard desktop software which support the organisation and customers
Role is actually divided into three different areas, 1) Getting client requirements 2) Project planning and managing team 3) Integration and development work.
The Head of IT doing most of the things at the moment, they hired one contractor one year ago and there is one other junior developer and a support person in the team.
Company provides logistics and distribution services and their turnover is about £25m, they are expanding so workload will increase.
I have about 4 yrs supply chain experience, but it was more to do with developing in house supply chain solution in .Net & Oracle, here it in this company i will just be doing ORACLE and reporting stuff no .Net
They will probably rid off the contractor after I join them but I will have an authority to hire a new contractor in the future even off shore ones if work load increases.
I will be doing appraisal, mentoring and training junior staff, some of the other stuffs like
• Providing hands-on management in leading, managing and supporting software application development to meet the needs of the business.
• Change management and Maintain the security and auditing of systems
• Participating in the delivery of customer service, SLAs
• Providing development and support to team members with training and education
• Keeping up to date knowledge of application software, operating systems and standard desktop software which support the organisation and customers
I know 5k is not that much and it looks silly to move house just for 5k but i am looking at bigger picture, in the future i might be able to secure a better well paid job. Recently i declined the offer which was paying 25k more, i think this role looks attractive because it offers variety, more responsibilities, a challenge and good job title.
There is a non contractual 20% bonus but you never know if you gona get it or not.
A lot to think......
There is a non contractual 20% bonus but you never know if you gona get it or not.
A lot to think......
I wouldn't make the move that you're looking at. It just doesn't seem like a good fit for your skills. If you want to move into management, then wait and choose the right role. A good bet is to start in a small team which is rapidly expanding.
Flooble has covered some excellent points, so I'll add just a few general notes about being a Dev Manager. I moved, three years ago, from a 12-year development career (.NET, Oracle/SQL Server) into Development Manager when a position above me became open. I work in the motor industry (fleet IT), and had previously done a long time in Defence IT for some large global players. Obviously this is all industry- and company-dependent, YMMV.
Dev Mgr is not an easy transition from pure dev, for the following reasons:
Don't be daunted - it's an enjoyable experience if you like a challenge. I moved up again last year and now manage not only a .NET dev team, but also a team of PM/BA/Test resources, and also lately a complete Digital Reporting team. I still retain some development responsibility where I can bugfix and do some general code, purely because it was my first love and it keeps me sane!
Plus - EVERY person who makes the shift I reckon goes through a period of uncertainty after they've done it.
Flooble has covered some excellent points, so I'll add just a few general notes about being a Dev Manager. I moved, three years ago, from a 12-year development career (.NET, Oracle/SQL Server) into Development Manager when a position above me became open. I work in the motor industry (fleet IT), and had previously done a long time in Defence IT for some large global players. Obviously this is all industry- and company-dependent, YMMV.
Dev Mgr is not an easy transition from pure dev, for the following reasons:
- You will need to be a politician, first and foremost. As Dev Manager, you are the translation layer between non-techie business folk, and that heady mix of ultra-nerd and normal dev in your team. You will need to be good with people, to be able - for example - to resolve disputes between technical staff (about, let's say, a particular technical direction) in a way which leaves both parties still motivated.
- You will need to possess the skill of being able to explain quite serious technical issues in layman's terms to non-technical personnel, whether this is explaining why a project is overrunning or why an application server has to be bounced at 2pm.
- You will need to be strong technically yourself. It is you that your devs will call over for help when it's 7pm, and they're tearing their hair out because they want to go home and they can't solve why a piece of business logic is not functioning correctly. If you have the technical respect of your developers, your life will be much more simple.
- You will be expected to be the driver behind technical direction in your area. I introduced CI (TeamCity) and development standards into the team where there were none defined before. I also review regularly the technology we use and look for alternative/new products which will make a development team's life easier.
- Similarly you will also need to be able to think strategically, with regard to the long-term plans of the business. Should this piece of work go in R4.2? What's the company got lined up for the prospect they're talking to at the moment - have you spoken to the sales guys so they can sell the new functionality to clients? Is the business planning a product change in three months which will make your planned release worthless?
Don't be daunted - it's an enjoyable experience if you like a challenge. I moved up again last year and now manage not only a .NET dev team, but also a team of PM/BA/Test resources, and also lately a complete Digital Reporting team. I still retain some development responsibility where I can bugfix and do some general code, purely because it was my first love and it keeps me sane!
Plus - EVERY person who makes the shift I reckon goes through a period of uncertainty after they've done it.
TankRizzo said:
- You will need to possess the skill of being able to explain quite serious technical issues in layman's terms to non-technical personnel, whether this is explaining why a project is overrunning or why an application server has to be bounced at 2pm.
As a business stakeholder, the fact that our Dev team manager can easily and clearly explain technical issues to me makes it SO much easier for our group to function. Other tracks with different Dev managers who don't communicate as well are seeing much less success.
I wouldn't do it, assuming the Peter Principle is correct you appear to be quite good at what you do and the extra money doesn't seem enough to risk joining a new company.
In these days of Scrum and Agile software development the old fashioned role of a "Manager" seems redundant, the guys who are going to be pushing the direction of developments should be the PLMs and Scrum leaders, you're going to be left to do all the s
t work like Hiring and Firing, HR stuff, telling people they can't have their holidays and dealing with whatever prick sits above you.
I wouldn't.
In these days of Scrum and Agile software development the old fashioned role of a "Manager" seems redundant, the guys who are going to be pushing the direction of developments should be the PLMs and Scrum leaders, you're going to be left to do all the s
t work like Hiring and Firing, HR stuff, telling people they can't have their holidays and dealing with whatever prick sits above you.I wouldn't.
Seen my boss do this. He was a team lead with about 5 people under him. Now he's got about 20 people under him.
He's moved from being technical to essentially spending all day in meetings and sending email. I don't think he particularly enjoys it a whole load.
If you want to move out of development, move to pre sales or architecture? That's more my plan.
He's moved from being technical to essentially spending all day in meetings and sending email. I don't think he particularly enjoys it a whole load.
If you want to move out of development, move to pre sales or architecture? That's more my plan.
I think most points have been covered already but I am in a similar position to the role you are looking at so will add my thoughts.
I have a team of me and two devs. As Flooble said, holidays and sickness leave you holding the baby. Because our team is so small and we have a number of systems many only one person knows inside out. So when one goes wrong and that dev is on holiday is a mess.
My role was supposed to be 50/50 split hands on to management. It is more like 95% dev with a bit of management. All the responsibility with none of the time to do it. That is a tricky situation to be in. As well as being the manager I am also the most experienced dev by some margin. I am quite glad though because as someone else said, pure dev management is a lot of meetings and emails and not a lot of actual production.
£5K raise from dev to manager in this market is not worth thinking about. I bet if you handed your notice in right now you would be offered more than that to stay doing what you do.
I resigned from my job last year and was given £5K raise and £5K bonus and I was already above market rate in the area. Sure there are future prospects to consider.
The problem is generally if you are a very good programmer you will get promoted eventually. However, what made you a good programmer wont make you a good manager. I am not saying you wont be good at management but the skillset is totally different.
You can earn just as much being an experienced dev or architect as you can taking on the management role.
I find the management aspect far more stressful. In all honesty I wish I hadn't gone this route and there are times when I consider going back to being a straight dev.
I have a team of me and two devs. As Flooble said, holidays and sickness leave you holding the baby. Because our team is so small and we have a number of systems many only one person knows inside out. So when one goes wrong and that dev is on holiday is a mess.
My role was supposed to be 50/50 split hands on to management. It is more like 95% dev with a bit of management. All the responsibility with none of the time to do it. That is a tricky situation to be in. As well as being the manager I am also the most experienced dev by some margin. I am quite glad though because as someone else said, pure dev management is a lot of meetings and emails and not a lot of actual production.
£5K raise from dev to manager in this market is not worth thinking about. I bet if you handed your notice in right now you would be offered more than that to stay doing what you do.
I resigned from my job last year and was given £5K raise and £5K bonus and I was already above market rate in the area. Sure there are future prospects to consider.
The problem is generally if you are a very good programmer you will get promoted eventually. However, what made you a good programmer wont make you a good manager. I am not saying you wont be good at management but the skillset is totally different.
You can earn just as much being an experienced dev or architect as you can taking on the management role.
I find the management aspect far more stressful. In all honesty I wish I hadn't gone this route and there are times when I consider going back to being a straight dev.
I'm Head of Server Engineering at an acquired London startup. I joined four years ago as a software engineer. I've been writing software for 18 years.
You can be a great tech lead, a great manager, but not both in my opinion. No matter what your best intentions, if you try to retain a significant hands-on technical capability then you will likely not perform as well as a manager and that means you are letting down the people that report to you. Instead, what I find is that I satisfy my technical side with a combination of investigating new technologies, fixing bits of technical debt or simply automating away the need to do things where possible. Nothing I code is anywhere near to the critical path of a delivery as I know my time cannot be relied upon within constant heroic effort on my part. One benefit of this is that I get to take and hold a dispassionate view on the projects we are running. I can be the outside voice if needed. I'm really not sure I'd want to be a manager of a single team delivering one thing as this opportunity would not be there.
So, if you are happy that your technical desire can be fulfilled in this way, should you become a manager? Try answering these questions:
Do you see an exciting challenge in making everybody a bit better rather than yourself as good as you can be? If you can do this, the net effect is far greater. That's a managers role.
Are you prepared to put the effort in to understand your reports and what their particular goals, motivations and drivers are? You can't just hold a 1:1 every now and then and do an occasional performance review. It takes work and effort to help them be as good as they can be.
Do you already like reading up on non-technical aspects of software engineering? Organisation structures, case studies (e.g. Spotify is a very common one for how to structure an engineering org), what motivates people (Read Drive by Dan Pink) and does trying to improve your company in this way appeal? This is how I started on the management road and made it happen after I'd already decided it was what I want. As others have said, this industry has a terrible habit of making the best engineers managers and then expecting them to be great managers. That is not going to happen magically.
You can be a great tech lead, a great manager, but not both in my opinion. No matter what your best intentions, if you try to retain a significant hands-on technical capability then you will likely not perform as well as a manager and that means you are letting down the people that report to you. Instead, what I find is that I satisfy my technical side with a combination of investigating new technologies, fixing bits of technical debt or simply automating away the need to do things where possible. Nothing I code is anywhere near to the critical path of a delivery as I know my time cannot be relied upon within constant heroic effort on my part. One benefit of this is that I get to take and hold a dispassionate view on the projects we are running. I can be the outside voice if needed. I'm really not sure I'd want to be a manager of a single team delivering one thing as this opportunity would not be there.
So, if you are happy that your technical desire can be fulfilled in this way, should you become a manager? Try answering these questions:
Do you see an exciting challenge in making everybody a bit better rather than yourself as good as you can be? If you can do this, the net effect is far greater. That's a managers role.
Are you prepared to put the effort in to understand your reports and what their particular goals, motivations and drivers are? You can't just hold a 1:1 every now and then and do an occasional performance review. It takes work and effort to help them be as good as they can be.
Do you already like reading up on non-technical aspects of software engineering? Organisation structures, case studies (e.g. Spotify is a very common one for how to structure an engineering org), what motivates people (Read Drive by Dan Pink) and does trying to improve your company in this way appeal? This is how I started on the management road and made it happen after I'd already decided it was what I want. As others have said, this industry has a terrible habit of making the best engineers managers and then expecting them to be great managers. That is not going to happen magically.
I have managed to gathered more information on this role.
The key responsibilities will be to manage the workload coming into the development team; to help to strengthen the skills and knowledge of the team and to deliver work to an agreed quality and timescale. Most of the work that the development team does is the integration of new customers. Each customer will have on average around 10 integrations.
In the Start, I will need to learn the existing toolsets.
IT Manager intents that I will pick up the management of the team and the work into the team, though this may be something that would be done in stages to ensure that everything is covered and that the transition is smooth.
The key responsibilities will be to manage the workload coming into the development team; to help to strengthen the skills and knowledge of the team and to deliver work to an agreed quality and timescale. Most of the work that the development team does is the integration of new customers. Each customer will have on average around 10 integrations.
In the Start, I will need to learn the existing toolsets.
IT Manager intents that I will pick up the management of the team and the work into the team, though this may be something that would be done in stages to ensure that everything is covered and that the transition is smooth.
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