SWE 4 - Staff Software Engineer

I autonomously plan, drive, and deliver multi-quarter, multi-team strategic initiatives to progress the department. I consistently execute on key departmental goals and drive a technical area for the department.

Scope

The scope of staff is highly variable based on the person and business objective. Some Staff Engineers may go deep into one domain, while others may work broadly across domains. A Staff engineer may work on the biggest fire facing the company one day and focus on a strategic technical area the next. A single definition is insufficient for this level.

Specialist: You are WHOOP's expert and technical leader in a core domain or core product vertical. You know everything there is to know about this system and lend your expertise across the department by consulting on initiatives that rely on depth in your domain. You autonomously advocate for and drive technically deep and ambiguous problems, ensuring your work aligns with business priorities and promoting where your time is best spent. You exude strong ownership over the direction and growth of the area you lead.

Generalist: You define impact areas across the business that have yet to be identified or capitalized on. You work to disambiguate problems, convince others they are worth investing in, and define the technical strategy that will be executed in collaboration with multiple teams horizontally across the department. You can jump into any team to help champion initiatives that need additional support over the finish line with exemplary execution, then pull back out of the team to find the next initiative. You ensure self-alignment with business priorities between Software and other departments and promote upward where your time is best spent.

Regardless of archetype, you launch initiatives addressing your department's most important problems. These problems are technically complex and ambiguous. In most cases, you must first define the technical problem and clarify context so others can help you deliver a solution. These types of problems require solutions that may not be fully delivered in a quarter or a year. You are the driving force that keeps teams motivated to deliver on the strategic initiatives, and the ripples from your influence and your approach are felt long after you move on from the problem.

Craft

You set the technical direction for your group. You define and champion efforts for how the group approaches quality, delivery of software, and operational excellence. Your architecture solutions are scalable, resilient to failures, and extensible. You amplify your impact by leading design reviews early in a project's lifecycle, using context and experience to illuminate pitfalls and challenge assumptions. When you see common problems, you look for opportunities to simplify the system or set up guardrails to help other engineers overcome the speed bumps.

Responsibility	Behaviors
Technical	I lead technical decision making within a core domain or critical system. I execute pragmatically, consistently delivering high-quality, non-disruptive releases.
Scoping & Estimation	I avoid monolithic deliverables and break down complex tasks quickly and iteratively. I review and contribute to all major architectural decisions in my domain/expertise and review technical specs within my group.
Quality	I consistently deliver solutions that are exemplary in quality and maintainability I write highly insightful, comprehensive reviews that up-level the author(s). I proactively tackle tough areas of tech debt and bring our existing systems up to standards.
Operational Excellence	I am well versed in how to trade off speed vs quality to deliver an acceptable product to the customer. I set performance goals (SLOs) for major systems and collaborate with teams to meet and maintain those goals.
Design	I have a broad understanding of our architecture and how my group’s domain fits within it. I systematically think through potential design impacts on other teams and the company, taking into account cost, time, and WHOOP’s position in the market.
Process Improvement	I identify when a process needs to be eliminated due to change or inefficiency and aim to replace and/or automate it away.

Communication and Collaboration

You are a force multiplier. The problems you work on are too big for you to solve alone. You look for how to break up the problem and bring other engineers in to help you deliver the solution. You partner with other engineering leaders to adopt solutions and initiatives you drive. You seek diverse feedback to help shape your understanding of a problem and solution.

You advise your leadership, including scoping and planning projects and prioritizing systemic problems impacting the group. You expertly drive consensus within groups to make progress. Team boundaries don't constrain you. You work across any teams at WHOOP as required by the problem, making clear and actionable communication outward. You write and communicate to both engineering leadership and non-technical audiences.

Responsibility	Behaviors
Autonomy	I spur and facilitate meaningful discussion around complex issues that exist today or may come soon in pursuit of finding a solution. I pull in engineers across teams to help me deliver on strategic initiatives for the broader department.
Accountability	I successfully plan and execute projects involving multiple developers and complex requirements, prioritizing strategically against WHOOP’s mission. I craft written and verbal communication on critical issues, making sure to include stakeholders and members and driving timely updates on progression toward resolution.
Data Driven	I expertly evaluate and detail tradeoffs when evaluating solutions and technology. I have a strong frame of mind on prioritization for teams as it relates to my knowledge of the business’ priorities.
Clarity	I expertly keep project stakeholders up to date and advise on the direction of strategic initiatives. I write concise and insightful documentation that can be leveraged by all levels, taking the guesswork out of solved problems.
Drives Consensus	I drive consensus through my peers and stakeholders, creating confidence and clear direction within the group.

Coaching

You actively grow and provide engineers around you with opportunities to improve their skills. You perform code reviews that level up not only the code but also the engineers. You reliably instill best practices within your group and the department, creating guard rails and simplifying the adoption of best practices.

When teams take on large challenges that require your expertise, you jump in and champion the initiative over the finish line. You embed on the team and take the time to coach them, leading by example and educating them as you go. When you extract from the team, you leave them feeling confident and accomplished.

You look to sponsor a few individuals to give them opportunities for challenge and growth. You sponsor them by promoting their ability to take on new challenges to develop skills required for their next level. You coach and grow individuals to become confident in their work, rapidly up-level them, and most of all support them through their career growth.

Responsibility	Behaviors
Mentorship	I review and provide feedback on technical specifications in my group to drive teams toward consistent documentation and strong planning. I motivate teams and engineers in their work and empower a high-performance culture, making sure to balance their health and longevity.
Department & Group Influence	I am sought out as a go-to expert in my domain and proactively educate my peers in my area(s) of expertise. I educate other people externally from my group about our work within the group, driving interest and excitement. I analyze and improve WHOOP’s interviews aiming to obtain top talent. I help maintain the mental fortitude of my peers through periods of change.

Strategy & Execution

While you will continue to contribute code, and that is what got you to Staff, you are diligent in deciding where to employ your energy executing. You first seek opportunities to give to other engineers and coach them to deliver rather than contributing yourself. But executing allows you to stay close to the technical challenges.

You focus most of your efforts on executing on the critical path that sets the foundation for other engineers, or you may develop proof-of-concept projects that help you to understand how to lead a team better.

You stay aligned with the top priorities of the department through networking and strong communication to keep a clear vision of the future and gaps that need filling across the Software department. In this way, you define problem areas and initiatives that push the business forward that might not have otherwise been discovered.

Responsibility	Behaviors
Define Problems	I explore new or reusable technologies with sizable potential impact for WHOOP whilst practicing responsible innovation.
Directionality	I routinely bring business needs to my department and formulate initiatives around them. I drive guilds forward through discussion, contribution, and new standards in pursuit of a robust and first-class stack. I surface problems to my guild and drive concrete action to resolution.
Staying Nimble	I am quick to weigh priorities against existing work. I know how to identify the value of pivoting to capitalize on time to market versus the value in driving existing focus over the finish line. I advise on which is most beneficial at the moment and always explain why.
Vision	I pitch and advocate for what the Software department should steer toward. I execute continuously towards a consistent vision through long-term projects.

Moving to the SWE 5 level

You have been at the Staff Level for 36 months and operating at the Senior Staff level for 12 months.

Here are some areas you might focus on to bridge your experience at the next level:

• You begin to lead coordinated efforts and initiatives across departments.
• You begin to identify issues and priorities on the horizon and adapt your approach to address them ahead of time.