> I look at some of my lower level engineering peers that are "stuck" in their careers (5+ years at the same level, no management responsibility), and honestly I feel like they have a pretty blissful life. Maybe I'm idealizing, but I feel like they can just think about how to build something, get it built, and move to the next thing. Not have to deal with recruitment, management, strategy, etc. Show up and fix the bugs.
Before you do anything, talk to these engineers at length and in depth to confirm whether your assumptions are true. They might not "just think about how to build something, get it built, and move to the next thing".
When I applied for an internal transfer from a senior non-technical role where I was unhappy to a less-senior technical role I had some prior experience with, I talked to members of the team I'd be joining to get a better idea of how they felt on the team and not just the work they had to do. The team I was on was broadly unhappy, which was driving my desire to move, and I wanted to join a team that had at least some camaraderie in the face of the work they had to do.
It would've been easy to assume that was the case, and talking to the team members confirmed it. It also gave me insight into the kinds of gaps and problems they did have that prevented them from doing the kind work I wanted to do with them, and where I could fit in to help solve those problems. It helped justify the move for myself, for the company, and for both the team I was joining and the team I was leaving.
Before you do anything, talk to these engineers at length and in depth to confirm whether your assumptions are true. They might not "just think about how to build something, get it built, and move to the next thing".
When I applied for an internal transfer from a senior non-technical role where I was unhappy to a less-senior technical role I had some prior experience with, I talked to members of the team I'd be joining to get a better idea of how they felt on the team and not just the work they had to do. The team I was on was broadly unhappy, which was driving my desire to move, and I wanted to join a team that had at least some camaraderie in the face of the work they had to do.
It would've been easy to assume that was the case, and talking to the team members confirmed it. It also gave me insight into the kinds of gaps and problems they did have that prevented them from doing the kind work I wanted to do with them, and where I could fit in to help solve those problems. It helped justify the move for myself, for the company, and for both the team I was joining and the team I was leaving.