General Principles

Engineering excellence is a journey that unfolds throughout one’s career. The principles listed below represent our vision for engineering at its best - they are aspirational, but are also intended to be practical guideposts.

We recognize that early-career engineers should focus on developing technical mastery and understanding team practices; this is essential as a strong technical foundation enables everything that follows. However, everyone benefits from developing a broader awareness of the contexts in which they work, so even junior engineers should be gradually developing a deeper understanding of product and business concerns.

Therefore, regardless of level, specialization, or focus, all engineers should be aware of and growing in these core principles:

Technical Excellence: Through clean code, thoughtful architecture, and rigorous development standards, build systems that other engineers can confidently understand, modify, and extend.
Quality and Reliability: Deliver solutions that excel in meeting user needs through robust performance, scalability, and dependable operation.
Growth & Innovation Mindset: Continuously evolve both individual capabilities and product solutions through experimentation, learning, and creative problem-solving.
Collaborative Approach: Work closely with product, design, and other engineers to deliver holistic solutions.
User-Centric Mindset: Always consider the end-user’s needs and experiences in technical decisions. In some situations the end-user may be teammates or other internal stakeholders.
Business Value Focus: Understand how technical work translates to business outcomes and prioritize accordingly.
Iterative Improvement: Embrace an agile mindset, focusing on delivering value incrementally and learning from user feedback.
Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing: Actively contribute to the growth of the team and the engineering organization.
Experts Leading Experts: Master both technical craft and management skills to provide credible and effective leadership.
Ethical Considerations: Consider the ethical implications of technical decisions and advocate for responsible technology use.

Applying These Principles

The expression of these principles naturally evolves throughout an engineer’s career.

Early-career engineers focus primarily on building technical excellence and mastering foundational engineering practices. During this stage, the emphasis is on writing quality code, understanding system architecture, and developing strong collaborative skills. While technical mastery is the primary focus, engineers at this level should begin developing awareness of how their work impacts users and contributes to business goals.

As engineers progress to mid-career roles, they start taking on broader technical leadership responsibilities while maintaining their hands-on expertise. They lead technical initiatives with consideration for both immediate implementation needs and longer-term maintainability. At this stage, engineers begin actively balancing technical decisions with business and user needs, while also driving improvements in code quality and development processes. They take on mentorship responsibilities, helping early-career engineers develop their technical skills and understanding of engineering principles.

Senior engineers and managers shape technical strategy with a deep understanding of business objectives. They drive innovation across the organization while ensuring consistent technical excellence. Their leadership encompasses both technical expertise and management skills, allowing them to guide teams effectively and make strategic technical decisions. At this level, engineers play a crucial role in fostering a culture that values technical rigor, ethical considerations, and user-focused development practices.

These principles serve both as a foundation for daily work and as guideposts for long-term professional development. They represent not just what we do, but how we continuously improve as engineers and leaders.