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Dropbox Engineering Career Framework

IC1 Technical Program Manager

I execute on program tasks with increasing acumen to support my team's goals

Scope Area of ownership and level of autonomy / ambiguity

  • I execute on defined tasks and contribute to solving problems with defined solutions.

Collaborative Reach Organizational reach and extent of influence

  • I work within the scope of my team with specific guidance from my manager/TL

Impact Levers Technical levers typically exercised to achieve business impact

  • Craft - I primarily focus on improving my craft as an engineer

🏆 Results

Impact

  • I work with my manager to prioritize tasks that add the most value and deliver high-quality results for my customer
  • I understand and effectively participate in the core processes of my team (planning, on-call rotations, bug triage, metrics review, etc)

Ownership

  • I follow through on my commitments, take responsibility for my work, and deliver my work on time
  • I ask questions to clarify expectations
  • I own my failures and learn from them

Decision Making

  • I escalate to my manager when I get stuck and reflect on ways that I can improve from my mistakes

🌟 Direction

Agility / Innovation

  • I share new ideas and can adapt my work when circumstances change

🌳 Talent

Personal Growth

  • I'm open to and act upon feedback from my manager and peers
  • I'm gaining self-awareness about my strengths and areas for development
  • I have a high standard of excellence for my work

Hiring

  • I am learning to interview and assess candidates to help us build a diverse and talented team. I consistently provide timely, detailed, and evidence-based interview feedback.
  • I am able to represent my team’s initiatives and goals to candidates in a compelling way

🌈 Culture

Collaboration

  • I can effectively collaborate to get work done
  • I work with my manager to manage conflict with empathy in mind

Organizational Health

  • I listen to different perspectives and I remove biases from my words and actions
  • I practice the Dropbox Diversity Commitments on a regular basis

Communication

  • I write and speak clearly
  • I listen to understand others and ask clarifying questions
  • I share relevant information on my project including difficult task-level trade-offs that impact the product to my manager and team (including product/business partners).

🦉 Craft

As an entry-level for TPM at Dropbox, I work as part of a team, with teammates, a manager, and more senior TPMs. I am primarily expected to focus on delivering results as an individual, improving my craft as a TPM, and upholding Dropbox’s culture and values. I am expected to create leverage for myself via a technical skillset and not purely from process.

Managing Programs

  • I work on specific features/modules of the product, roadmap, project management, issue/risk management, and cross-division coordination.
  • While I will not be independently leading execution of a feature/module, I will be responsible for the project assigned to me and it would require my working closely with engineers and more senior TPMs on the project or program.
  • I regularly and clearly communicate progress, risks and difficult trade-offs to my manager and more senior Technical Program Managers.
  • I ensure the quality and maintainability of my work. I follow my team’s best practices.

Technical Acumen

  • My technical acumen is commensurate with my work experience.
  • I am beginning to develop domain specific expertise related to my role in a Group, Area, or Team.