The Manager Who Never Stopped Coding: My Next Chapter

Labor Day Reflections

Labor Day has come and gone, school has started, and Summer is over (even though we haven’t hit the autumnal equinox just yet). This was a special Labor Day this year because my unemployment insurance ran out. I’ve had a few job opportunities nearly go to an offer, but am still on the hunt after 6 months.

The job market for a software engineering manager is rough–tougher than I’ve ever seen it. I’m starting to apply for individual contributor roles and contract/consulting roles, just to broaden my options.

Rediscovering My Love for Code

I successfully launched Sonos’ first B2B SaaS product last year, but I didn’t spend as much time writing code as I would have liked. I’m a great manager, enjoy coaching, and helping my employees grow their careers, but I also love to write code. In my last role I had to spend much more time managing–not just my team, but filling in for a busy (or missing) Product Manager, and coordinating with stakeholders across business units. While I was able to learn a new tech stack sufficiently to review code and guide technical decisions, I had a humbling moment in a recent interview where I struggled to build an app from scratch.

As I’ve been working on personal software projects and exploring AI agents I’ve enjoyed learning tech stacks like Ruby/Rails, Flutter, deepening my understanding of Typescript, and getting up to speed on all the latest in iOS development. I’ve done more personal coding in the past few months than I have over the prior nine years as a manager.

I’ve realized that I love technical leadership and I can use my skills to help move a team forward as an individual contributor. I’m now considering both management and senior IC roles. For IC roles I’m focusing on iOS and mobile, which is still my “first love” in programming–and where I think I can best demonstrate my technical expertise when it comes to a coding interview.

The “Yay! Code!” Philosophy

While iOS is still my preferred stack, one thing I have demonstrated over the course of my career is that I can pick up any new tech stack required. When I first started mobile development it was on Symbian. In college I learned how to code in Ada. My first AI code was written in Lisp. When I developed Windows apps it was using C++ and COM. I’ve delivered apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, frontend, backend, and firmware. I’m what one of my former mentors referred to as a “Yay! Code!” kind of engineer. When presented with a new technology I love to dive in, learn how to use it, and deliver something great.

This is such an exciting moment in tech with the rise of AI and agentic coding. With an AI agent as a partner (sort of like a junior dev with an encyclopedic memory of reference material), it is easier than ever to pick up a new tech stack. AI can’t write an app by itself, but it can help with some of the tedious boilerplate and “plumbing” code. It makes for a helpful SDET, which can help automate your processes, write helper scripts, and set up your CI/CD workflow. It’s like having a junior pair programmer at your side. I don’t know about these “10x” coding claims I read about, but AI can certainly help an experienced software engineer/architect leverage their expertise and deliver much faster.

Leading Through Change

The other interesting thing about this period is how rapidly the industry is changing. People have all sorts of predictions about the direction things are heading, whether there’s a bubble about to burst, etc. The one thing I know for certain is that we are in a “VUCA” period (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity). I have led teams through periods like this in the past–from the rise of broadband Internet, to the ubiquity of mobile computing, plus cloud computing connecting it all. Whether as a manager or a seasoned engineer I have the experience, empathy, and resilience to help lead teams through the quickly changing landscape.

What I’m Looking For

My next role needs to be about the opportunity, not the title. I am a technical leader and I like to be close to the code. I want to be inspired by the company culture and the people I work with. I want to build new experiences that solve problems for customers. I love mobile, but understand that great mobile experiences extend beyond the phone/tablet and require deep integrations with other systems. I don’t want to be held back by platform limitations–I want to dive in and add new features to a backend system to unblock my team. If this sounds like the kind of manager or staff/principal engineer you need on your software team, I’d love to connect!