[fnordpiglet]

I would note that line manager sucks, but so does all the way to the top. I left IC and walked the management path to the top of megacorps and it simply got worse and worse as you went higher.

I recently got so disenchanted that I went back to IC. I found a late stage startup that pays staff+ engineers very well, didn’t take a pay cut, and my skills as a senior executive are actually quite useful as I can both bridge groups and teams with alacrity, think bigger and more strategically, but I also understand intimately the challenges management at each level experience. I’m also highly technical so I can span all aspects of the work. But I am fully an IC, and enjoy having the autonomy to say “screw it I’m programming today.”

I think my advice is if you aren’t happy stop it. Don’t worry about burning bridges or whatever. No one will be burned, at least no one worth working for or caring about. Pursue your bliss, but take the experiences gained with you and be sure to present it as a value add to your IC role when you do. If you do not move out when you’re unhappy sooner or later you will burn out and everything in your life will be harder. Avoid burnout at all costs.