What really is L6 at Airbnb? (scope, etc.)

Meta / Eng
qijwvw

Go to company page Meta Eng

 qijwvw
Apr 9 15 Comments

Semi-recently talked to a hiring manager at Airbnb who said their team was currently composed of 30% L6 and they plan to add 1-2 more L6s and maybe one L7s (numbers +/- to avoid being too precise). I think that would make for close to every other engineer being L6+ in a team of barely more than 10 people in total.

I was kind of shocked. What do L6s really do at Airbnb? Are they not expected always to be leading other engineers? Are they just asked to be coding machines? AFAIK, most places ask Staff-levelgineers to be a driving force for engineers around them in addition to "just" coders. I don't really see how you can make a team with 1 tech lead engineer for every 2 non-tech leads engineers and still have scope for the tech leads to actually be doing something else than just being more expensive coders than the L5s.

At Meta you're typically expecting 1-2 L6s per team 10-people at most, with most teams simply not having any L6s+ at all. (infra could differ if they're mostly working across other infra teams etc.).

I'm starting to question the E6 -> L6 mapping that levels.fyi is putting on display. That many L6s in a single team to me makes it sound more like L5s with a lot of experience, but not actually driving other engineers.

Or maybe Airbnb is just kind of laid-back and a bit slow-moving so people aren't asked for that much output per person? (Meta is kind-of known for being demanding although I've always found it to be just fine, so maybe my expectations are simply biased)

#airbnb #tech #staff #l6

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 TOP 15 Comments
  • Airbnb
    HawaNashta

    Go to company page Airbnb

    HawaNashta
    Depends on team. You took an example of one team and just assumed whole company worked the same way. We are not that organized๐Ÿคฃ
    Apr 9 3
    • Airbnb
      HawaNashta

      Go to company page Airbnb

      HawaNashta
      When I was L6, i led cross functional projects and teams from the tool selection to requirements to architecture to impementation and support. Even had direct reports.
      Apr 12
    • Meta / Eng
      qijwvw

      Go to company page Meta Eng

       qijwvw
      OP
      But what do you see around you? Would you say that's the most common? You say yourself it varies from te to team. What do you think is the most common?
      Apr 12
  • Google
    mfksp

    Go to company page Google

    mfksp
    Seems like there's level inflation everywhere.

    You could do some independent projects at L3 once, now you only receive micromanaged tasks at lots of places and prioritizing your time is for seniors.

    If seniors are the new normal SWEs who actually get to do some basic thinking and project work then L6s aren't special, they're just the new seniors.
    Apr 9 2
    • Meta / Eng
      qijwvw

      Go to company page Meta Eng

       qijwvw
      OP
      I don't know if it's everywhere. For once, I have talked to several people who said it used to be easier to get to E6 at Meta than it is now. The company is making a checklist these days, which they're adding to the normal eng/scope/tech expectations, and the list just keeps getting longer. Also, E3 isn't a real thing at Meta. As in, it's just a way to pay you less for 12 months. Almost everyone makes it to E4 in max 18 months. And for being someone helping E4s get to E5 (senior), I can tell you some of the ones who have not made it, definitely need more than just time management, but need to work on their the mental shift.

      Not sure how it is at Google. Google down-levels so many people when they get in, I'd expect you to have level //de//flation! :P
      Apr 9
    • Google
      mfksp

      Go to company page Google

      mfksp
      Yes they downlevel but they have so many people at higher levels now that downleveling isn't a tactic to get you to do more work and pay you less. At an increasing number of teams they really will have you spend all your time doing mundane shit tasks and bug fixes that an L5 delegates to you, rather than have you do anything remotely resembling work they'd be under-leveling and underpaying you for.
      Apr 9
  • Airbnb
    ABNBNB

    Go to company page Airbnb

    ABNBNB
    Is it an infrastructure team? Most infra teams have numerous L6
    Apr 9 2
    • Meta / Eng
      qijwvw

      Go to company page Meta Eng

       qijwvw
      OP
      Can't say too much but yes I'd consider it infra. Can you elaborate on most infra teams having numerous L6s? In practice how does it work? How does it differ with product?
      Apr 12
    • Airbnb
      fidyb

      Go to company page Airbnb

      fidyb
      This was the case at Uber too. L6 skills are depth or breadth. If the team is focused on work that requires expertise vs generalist it will have more L6
      7d
  • Meta
    kam82!:

    Go to company page Meta

    kam82!:
    You generalized one team's composition to the entire company. In my team of 10, I am the only L6. There are some teams where there is no L6.
    L6 refreshers and bonus at Airbnb is higher than Meta.
    Apr 9 2
    • Meta / Eng
      qijwvw

      Go to company page Meta Eng

       qijwvw
      OP
      cf my response above about generalization. The post is a question, albeit maybe I could a written it better. I'm asking for more data points. Also... not sure why you bring up compensation lol. It's like, "it's blind, can't make a comment without mentioning comp"?

      You say you're the only L6 in your team but your profile says you work at Meta and I've essentially said the exact same thing about the ratio of L6 at meta...?? You got me confused brother. (Unless your profile shows meta but you've recently switched and you're talking about the composition of your team at airbnb?)
      Apr 12
    • Meta
      m"2'N

      Go to company page Meta

      m"2'N
      I think Meta guy is at Airbnb now.
      Apr 13
  • Twitter / Eng
    FleetFlot

    Go to company page Twitter Eng

    PRE
    Amazon
     FleetFlot
    Getting your most experienced and talented engineers to build your systems and features is severely underrated. Senior-heavy teams can get so much done and have super high quality. There's a reason Netflix operated as senior-only for so long.
    Apr 9 1
    • Meta / Eng
      qijwvw

      Go to company page Meta Eng

       qijwvw
      OP
      I do not disagree. But at least at Meta, your expectations are all about scope, not that much about quality. The quality bar is more or less the same for all levels, and being able to consistently apply that quality bar with an increasing amount of scope is what defines the level essentially. And that's a pattern I've noticed at most companies that have levels... and Airbnb does have levels.
      Apr 12