Engineering Role Descriptions, Stephan Schmidt, 2025

In Engineering Role Descriptions, Stephan Schmidt provides guidance on creating clear role descriptions for engineering teams. The book covers why roles matter (develops features and products), responsibilities (responsible for quality and security, responsible for developing and mentoring junior developers), what they own (architecture, code, and long-term maintenance; co-owns development process), and success criteria (being professional, solving problems on their own, timely delivery of features, platform stability).

Top 3 Learnings:

1. A role can have more than one responsibility, but responsibilities shouldn’t overlap across roles—otherwise things fall through the cracks. Everyone should have a description, everyone internally—and also you. Align your own role with your manager. Don’t write anything that actually belongs in a process or similar. Announce the project and then follow through. Give it a name, e.g., “roles 2.0.”

2. The first step for developer accountability is wording: “You are responsible for…” Don’t make it too long. If there are 3 things, that’s more focus than if there are 10. Keep it simple and focused. Responsibilities should be clear and non-overlapping.

3. Success criteria should be measurable and clear. Being professional, solving problems on their own, timely delivery of features, platform stability. These criteria help both the individual and their manager understand what success looks like.

Why and when to read it:

Read this when you’re creating or updating role descriptions for your engineering team or want to clarify responsibilities and ownership. It’s especially valuable for engineering managers, tech leads, or HR partners working with engineering teams. The book provides practical guidance on writing clear, focused role descriptions that improve accountability, making it perfect for teams struggling with unclear responsibilities or overlapping ownership.