The Role of a Staff Engineer in a Developer Experience

A promotion might be a climb up the ladder but, in actual fact, it’s a step in many directions. Today, we speak with staff plus engineer Sarah Dayan, about the many nuances of her current role at Algolia, both subtle and overt. In this episode, we find out what it takes to lead teams, advocate up and down within your organization, and why relationships are of utmost importance. Getting into the swing of things, we ask Sarah to tell us more about her background before she elaborates on the role of a staff engineer. She informs listeners that her role isn’t necessarily dependent on technical whizz and skill, but rather how she creates impact and implements beneficial change. Digging deeper, Sarah shares how she honed her skills as a staff-plus engineer and the need to add value in several ways; not just coding. For context, Sarah describes her role at Algolia, and you’ll find out how she tackles project direction and alignment, her approach to difficult conversations, and techniques for advocating up and down the company.

Links

• Sarah Dayan
• Sarah Dayan on Twitter
• Algolia
• Seanwes Podcast