Dear Hiring Manager,
I measure my success as a manager by the engineers who outgrew their roles on my watch, three of whom were promoted to senior in eighteen months. At Brightpath Software I took a team that was missing every quarter and turned predictable delivery into the norm without anyone burning out. Building teams that ship steadily and want to stay is the work I would bring to you.
Engineering management is two jobs held in balance, the health of the people and the flow of the work, and I refuse to trade one for the other. I run one to ones that surface problems early, I shape clear scope so the team is not whiplashed by shifting priorities, and I protect focus time as fiercely as I track delivery. I see my job as multiplying the team rather than being its strongest individual contributor.
At Brightpath Software I inherited a team that had shipped late for four quarters running and had lost two engineers to attrition. By introducing clearer planning, a sustainable on call rota and a real growth framework, we hit our roadmap commitments three quarters in a row while voluntary attrition fell to zero. Engagement survey scores rose from the bottom quartile to the top third across the same period.
Your advert describes scaling a team through a period of rapid growth, which brings the hiring, structure and culture questions I most enjoy. I would value a conversation about how I would balance growth with keeping the team's culture intact. Are you open to talking?
Yours sincerely, Jonathan Mercer