How much say does Amazon SDM have over technical decisions?

New
maangf

New

maangf
Feb 2 7 Comments

Do Amazon SDMs have a say on technical decisions, practically speaking? Are they usually involved in technical discussions (system architecture, choice of technologies, stack, etc)? Or are these decisions left to tech leads / engineers on the team? #amazon

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TOP 7 Comments
  • Amazon
    fkei25

    Go to company page Amazon

    fkei25
    As an SDM, I try to influence only from a distance. First, I leave the decision making entirely to the tech lead of that project. If the engineer isn’t able to solve the problem or put together a design that solves the problem correctly, at that time I bring in assistance from more tenured or principal engineers.
    Feb 2 4
    • New
      maangf

      New

      maangf
      OP
      Got it got it. Off topic question for you - I heard from a friend that at Google, an L6 eng will typically report to an L7 manager or higher; however, I have seen L6 engineers at Amazon report to L6 managers. Whats up with that? Does Amazon have any rules/policy around reporting relationships?
      Feb 2
    • Amazon
      fkei25

      Go to company page Amazon

      fkei25
      No such rule in Amazon of necessarily reporting to a manager of one level higher than yours. It sounds good but has never come up in any internal discussion though.
      Feb 2
  • Apple
    snfh384xh

    Go to company page Apple

    snfh384xh
    SDMs essentially can veto things from getting funded. L7+ ICs are the ones that influence the technical decisions and really they’re the ones that can force a managers hand either way.
    Feb 2 0
  • Amazon
    leet 4 pip

    Go to company page Amazon

    leet 4 pip
    Usually L6 engineers lay out technical decisions, and SDMs mostly agree with them. I've not seen a case where SDM goes and veto L6's designs. That's just too much work for the SDM lol
    Feb 2 0