The Staff+ engineering path finally has its books, but still lacks training resources. TADA the Staff+ Engineering Skills Track at QConSF!
Come learn from practitioners putting the key concepts noted in Tanya Reilly’s The Staff Engineer’s Path and Will Larson’s Staff Engineer into a digestible format with helpful takeaways. Find more clarity for answering the questions:
- “How do I become a Staff+ Engineer? What skills and experience am I missing?”
- “As a Staff+ engineer, what is it that I actually do?”
- “How do I 10X my engineering organization by leveling up others?”
- “I manage a Staff+ engineer. What should be my expectations of them? How do I support them?”
From this track
An Incident Story: Tips for How Staff+ Engineers Can Impact Incidents
Monday Oct 2 / 10:35AM PDT
In this talk, Erin Doyle, will walk through her experience with a critical 3-day-long incident.
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Erin Doyle
Sr. Staff Software Engineer @Lob, with 20+ Years Previously as a Full Stack Engineer and Instructor @Egghead
Things Every Staff+ Engineer Should Know
Monday Oct 2 / 11:45AM PDT
As staff+ engineers, we're often thrown into the deep end and expected to navigate huge amounts of ambiguity including ambiguity about what our jobs even are. It's common to feel like there's a huge amount of trial and error or even luck.
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Joy Ebertz
Principal Engineer @Harness, Blogger, and Speaker, Previously @Box
Managing Staff+ Engineers: Opportunities and Challenges
Monday Oct 2 / 01:35PM PDT
Staff+ engineers can be a powerful force in your organization…if you let them. Effectively managingStaff+ engineers requires different strategies than many managers are used to employing.
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Adam Schirmacher
Staff Engineer & Manager of Staff Engineers @Gusto
Panel: Staff+ Engineering Skills
Monday Oct 2 / 02:45PM PDT
Staff+ engineering is a critical role in any high-performing engineering organization. But what does it take to get promoted or get hired into a staff role? What does it take to keep it? Join us for a panel discussion with experienced Staff+ engineers who will share their insights.
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Erin Doyle
Sr. Staff Software Engineer @Lob, with 20+ Years Previously as a Full Stack Engineer and Instructor @Egghead

Adam Schirmacher
Staff Engineer & Manager of Staff Engineers @Gusto

Joy Ebertz
Principal Engineer @Harness, Blogger, and Speaker, Previously @Box
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Caleb Hyde
Site Reliability Engineer @Expel
Risk and Failure on the Path to Staff Engineer
Monday Oct 2 / 03:55PM PDT
Even as inaction can be a risk, deciding which actions to take in one's career involves choosing between different bets. I've developed a rubric for judging specific risks that I've taken.
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Caleb Hyde
Site Reliability Engineer @Expel
Unconference: Staff+ Engineering
Monday Oct 2 / 05:05PM PDT
What is an unconference? An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. Attendees come together, bringing their challenges and relying on the experience and know-how of their peers for solutions.