What if a Director of Engineering could do so much more?

We’re in an era of unprecedented role convergence in IT—PMs and Scrum Masters merging into TPMs, Full-Stack Developers also taking on QA, and DataOps/DevSecOps broadening their scope. These hybrid roles thrive because they deliver agility, efficiency, and deeper cross-functional insights.
But what about leadership? Can your technical leaders be doing more?

In a time marked by both big opportunities and looming risks, businesses can’t afford one-track leaders. Private equity firms demand higher performance, and volatile markets make successful exits more elusive.

My profile isn’t for everyone—some organizations still prefer leaders in strictly defined traditional roles. But after 20+ years in hyper-growth startups, wearing countless hats, I’ve seen that truly multi-skilled leaders shine. If you’re a technical leader, admit it: the same tech skills that got you here 5, 10, or 15 years ago no longer cut it in today’s market—be it engineering, ops, or QA. Why do we insist our teams cross-skill while overlooking ourselves? I’ve built my career on getting things done—as the “glue” binding business vision, customer satisfaction, and on-time execution.

With a Lean Leadership mindset, whatever is needed to get the job done is my job.

I’ve cross-skilled to stay hands-on in execution, optimization, and evolution throughout product delivery—from ideation and design, to program management, development, and site reliability. Leaders must grow—often more than their teams—because we’re responsible for both the present and the future we want to guide them to. How can your team trust you if you aren’t at least familiar with what they do?

For 19+ years, I’ve been an Agile engineer, but also acted as a business analyst spotting optimization opportunities, a program manager overseeing multi-year cloud migrations, and a DevSecOps/SRE practitioner eliminating toil and improving resilience.

This end-to-end skill set lets me do more than just guide technical initiatives. I can rally teams around a shared vision, drive innovation across disciplines, and keep a keen eye on the bottom line. Multi-skilled leadership isn’t a fad—it’s a survival tactic for navigating tightening budgets, unpredictable markets, and fierce competition. By seeking leaders who are technical, strategic, and empathetic, you’ll excel through change rather than be derailed by it.