[albrtpro]

Hire a Lead Dev before you hire engineers/programmers. You'll save SO much time and headaches.

I summarize here what I expect from Lead Devs:

- A lead knows how to architect solutions. Not just code them.

- A lead talks higher level than programmers/engineers. You don't want to hear code, you want to hear solutions/implications + pros/cons.

- A lead is interested in the interconnections with other systems, and doesn't overlook them.

- A lead has experienced a range of advanced problems (optimization, weirdest bugs, scale)

- A lead is able to recognise and be interested in the problems he hasn't come across yet, and has the will to tackle them asap if they are a priority for business.

- A lead has a quite deep understanding about the full range of solutions available to solve a problem on his platform. And he spends time on this daily, ideally because he's passionate about it (never seen it other way)

- When you ask a lead how to solve a fairly open engineering problem he'll come up with 1) A good range of approaches 2) Pros/Cons for each of them 3) For each pro/con advise based on his experience.

- A lead has confidence when taking a decision on architecture, he investigates the impacts beforehand. If he's wrong he recognises it.

- Ultimately a lead should be able to come up with a plan to help you refactor any mess with the lowest impact possible in the product. Ideally building the new on new refactored structure, and re-factoring the old by bits when maintenance is needed on those sections (low-budget approach..)

A lead will help you spot other good devs, including other platforms leads. From there, hire engineers who follow the Lead!

[codeonfire]

These are all things any engineer should be able to/ does do. The title "lead dev" sounds like marketing.

[albrtpro]

Based in London, where Lead Dev corresponds to those attitudes/skills. Personally: I'm afraid in a world with current growth of almost-free online programming courses/degrees, high demand, high rates and low competition, we're going to have to accept raising the "Engineer" skills to "Lead Developer / Architect" title.

If you compare with companies with big budget, yes those attitudes are what you find on the average engineer. In the London start-up world where budget is tight and VC's think short term that's normally not the case. It's hard to find solid architectural thinkers with experience who don't call themselves Leads, Architects and so on.

Are these skills and attitudes found in your area as just "engineers"?

[codeonfire]

Self taught people with low/no experience should be called 'programmers' at best. In almost all industries, people who specialize in one or two things would be called a technician or programmer, i.e. Angular programmer or web tech. Software Engineer implies someone with a degree that does far more and involves all aspects including project management and financial work. Lead developer is a title for managers to use when they want to designate someone as a developer that gets final say in decisions. The startup world is ridiculous and half the people in startups should not even be called programmers. Startups are just hiring people to look like they have lots of talent for investors.

[yen223]

Calling us "engineers" instead of "developers" is also marketing. That's not the point.

[codeonfire]

Yeah, well I went to engineering school and I do software engineering. Not everyone is in the same boat.

[bliti]

As a lead dev this is spot on. A lead might seem more expensive at first, but when you factor every advantage you come out much better.

[notyourwork]

Very good list of attributes for a lead dev.