[Swizec]

As a staff in practice, but not in title, here's how it works for me: My manager and I are at the same level. We work as peers. They handle the people stuff of the team, I handle the technical stuff of the team. They help with routing people/HR/management questions, I help with routing technical questions.

If you think "Gosh, that person (on another team) sure was rude", that's a question for my manager.

If you think "Gosh, I sure have no idea why that API (from another team) sucks", that's a question for me.

In terms of reporting to my manager it feels more like having a corner-man in the boxing ring than a boss. I fight the fight, they say "Hey you're dropping that right hand on your left hook, stop that or you'll get rekt. Here's some ice". And they spend more time thinking about and navigating politics-like issues in the org than I do, which means I can lean on their expertise when "org stuff" is needed.

I probably have similar or more years of experience than my current EM. The person we both report to, happens to be a true greybeard.

[msoad]

You're describing being a Senior Engineer. Staff (according to this book) goes beyond that.

[pc86]

This tracks with what I've read in your newsletter :)