Leading the Experts: How to Manage Senior Engineers Effectively

Leading Expertise: How to Manage Highly Experienced Engineers

Managing engineers with more experience than yourself presents unique challenges that many new managers face. When someone steps into a leadership role over senior engineers, the dynamics are different from managing junior staff. Highly experienced engineers have honed technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and domain knowledge over years—sometimes decades. They often know technologies deeply that the manager may only be somewhat familiar with.

For a new manager, the first instinct might be to compete or prove technical proficiency, but research and case studies suggest this approach is not effective. In reality, the manager’s value lies in guiding, structuring, and enabling the team to deliver at the highest level—not in matching the technical skills of senior engineers.

Understanding this distinction is crucial. Managers who treat senior engineers like they would juniors risk undermining their authority, creating frustration, or missing opportunities to multiply the team’s impact.

Tip: Recognize that technical expertise alone is not the manager’s primary tool. Focus instead on coordination, support, and enabling impact across the team.

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Mistake One: Trying to Be the Technical Expert

A common mistake for new managers is trying to become the technical authority in areas where their engineers are already experts. Highly experienced engineers often specialize in technologies or processes that the manager may only encounter occasionally. Attempting to match their depth of knowledge is not only impractical but also diverts attention from leadership responsibilities.

Instead, managers should acknowledge their technical limits and leverage the engineers’ expertise. This includes:

• Complementing skills: Supporting project planning, estimation, stakeholder communication, and problem framing rather than trying to take over technical decisions.

• Coaching growth areas: Identifying gaps in skills such as mentorship, cross-team collaboration, or communication. If a manager cannot teach these skills directly, they can facilitate learning through courses, workshops, or pairing with other mentors.

By focusing on enabling and guiding the team rather than competing technically, managers create an environment where senior engineers feel valued and supported.

Tip: Use your role to expand the engineers’ impact rather than attempting to match their technical mastery. Coaching, process guidance, and strategic insight are where your leadership matters most.

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Mistake Two: Complete Hands-Off Management

Another common error is the belief that “getting out of the way” entirely is the best approach. While experienced engineers may require less direct supervision, software development projects are rarely fully defined, and requirements often evolve. Complete autonomy without guidance can lead to misalignment, wasted effort, or overlooked risks.

Effective involvement includes:

• Setting up for success: Providing clear expectations, resources, and frameworks to ensure engineers can perform at their best. For example, agreeing on documentation standards or communication channels in advance.

• Periodic check-ins: Short, structured reviews of progress help ensure alignment and uncover potential obstacles early. Managers do not need to micromanage but should remain engaged enough to offer timely guidance.

• Being present in critical moments: Even if an engineer is highly experienced, manager presence during high-pressure situations—such as incident response or complex deployments—can help maintain focus and confidence.

The balance lies between giving freedom and providing support. Managers should intervene strategically to maximize efficiency and outcomes without stifling autonomy.

Tip: Establish clear expectations, schedule periodic alignment points, and maintain visibility on critical tasks to support senior engineers effectively.

Mistake Three: Avoiding Feedback

A third mistake is withholding feedback, often due to concerns about offending senior engineers or assuming they do not need guidance. However, failing to provide feedback can allow small issues to grow, decrease team effectiveness, and create awkward performance reviews later.

Managers can improve this by:

• Observing impact areas: Even highly skilled engineers have opportunities to improve, such as influencing team culture, mentoring, or improving process adherence.

• Framing feedback strategically: Focus feedback on broader team impact rather than individual technical performance. For example, highlighting contributions to knowledge sharing or team-wide quality standards.

• Acknowledging achievements: Feedback should also reinforce positive behaviors, recognizing when senior engineers elevate team performance or set high standards.

Constructive feedback, delivered thoughtfully, strengthens both the individual and the team while promoting continuous growth.

Tip: Do not assume senior engineers are self-sufficient. Provide balanced feedback—both guidance for improvement and recognition of positive contributions.

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Best Practices and Closing Thoughts

Managing engineers who are more experienced than you requires a different approach than managing junior staff. Key principles include:

1. Lead through enabling, not competition: Focus on removing obstacles, structuring projects, and multiplying the team’s impact.

2. Balance involvement with autonomy: Give engineers freedom to execute while providing guidance, resources, and alignment where necessary.

3. Deliver constructive feedback regularly: Highlight areas for growth, reinforce strong contributions, and tie feedback to broader team impact.

The role of a manager in this context is to act as a partner, facilitator, and multiplier rather than a technical authority. By creating clarity, providing strategic support, and guiding where it matters most, managers can help highly experienced engineers thrive while elevating overall team performance.

Tip: Approach management as a partnership with senior engineers. Focus on enabling their expertise to produce maximum impact across the team, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

By understanding these principles, new managers can confidently lead highly experienced engineers without feeling the pressure to match their technical mastery. Leadership is not about knowing more—it’s about creating conditions where talent can flourish.

What’s your next spark? A new platform engineering skill? A bold pitch? A team ready to rise? Share your ideas or challenges at Tiny Big Spark. Let’s build your pyramid—together.

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