and

> I'm not willing to leave the company because its stock 6x'ed last year.

Those two things, right there, are at complete odds with each other. You're artificially limiting your options because of some magic numbers you can't control look good right now. (Magic numbers which, by the way, have vesting periods and other fixed-time rules precisely to trap people into cycles where they feel they can't leave.)

It's a perfectly valid thing to stay for financial reasons, but that must come with acceptance that sometimes you'll have to roll over and take whatever they decide to dish out. It's also perfectly valid to accept that the ground shifted under your feet and the only reasonable thing is to move to greener pastures. But you can't do both.

You want to be one of those "go to" people! They are put on the most challenging assignments, the most exciting opportunities, more often promoted, protected from above, last to let go and frequently asked to follow that leader to new assignments at new companies usually with higher titles and better comp.

It seems to me you have been spotted by your Sr. Director and given an opportunity to prove yourself as you did in your prior team. It's a logical move to take a high performer from one team, and try to prop up an underperforming team. It's about what's good for the company.

If this fails, you won't necessarily be blamed, but you'll have lost an opportunity to really stand out amongst any other engineer at your level and earn the status of your Sr. Director's "go to" person.

Your value is in being a versatile, competent "can do anything, anywhere and happy to do it" type of resource who can be thrown into the biggest messes and come out looking good.

You have to decide which set of pros outweighs its cons more, by your values.

This means that you have to understand who you are and what you value.

First, remember that a career is PRIMARILY about earning money, and NOT about personal satisfaction. Many people get little or no satisfaction from their jobs. If you get some, consider yourself lucky. But don't undervalue the compensation; stock can be life-changing in that financial independence removes monetary issues from future choices like this.

Second, know who you are. If you like rising to the occasion, then I would suggest stepping outside your comfort zone and embracing the new opportunity, it might unlock all sorts of new financial success and maybe even become personally fulfilling if approached positively. But you have to decide if you can adopt that outlook and find enough satisfaction to remain a good performer.

Good luck!

You got a promotion into an area where you have a chance to prove your chops by improving on things. Get this right and you'll be in line for more promotions.

Being "the expert" in a specialized domain is often a career limiting thing. Broadening your areas of success is generally better for your long term career.

Probably best to wait until the new director settles in before pitching your proposals. In the meantime, take a look at how you can further improve how the management views your contributions and the value you produce.

Do you think this was good advice? You took their advice, even if it seemed a bitter pill at the time. They were most certainly part of the process for your promotion.

It feels like this senior director is in your corner. I'd schedule a 1:1 with a simple agenda of "looking for advice".

Definitely start with a compliment. "I remember that you advised me to move to X, Y time ago, and you were right that it was great for my career and promotion."

Be clear and specific about your desires - "I miss working on X technology. I was wondering if you have any visibility into any 2025 Q2, Q3, H2 projects or opportunities related to X technology that I might be able to [contribute to or transition to]." Sometimes you can be 50/50 to try something out or dip your toe in the water if you are attached to the success of something else. It's important that you be clear and specific. Maybe you could do this via email - it depends on if you are introverted or extroverted.

I once had an EM go back to Principal IC in an area that he loved. He's still working on it.

Good luck!

If you are in your twenties, 2 years may look like a lot of time (10% of your life), but as a gray haired software developer, let me tell you that it a very small time. Its boring to work with unsexy technologies, and bad for job satisfaction, but it is interesting to try to understand the qualities of other technologies. In software development we reinvent everything each 10 years.

Taking a flailing org and being visibly a part of turning them around will open a lot of doors in your current company. Notably those open doors won’t really translate if you switch jobs. If you switch jobs you’ll have to rebuild the trust that senior middle-management have in you.

At the end of the day if you want to find a small niche and stay in it then senior staff+ is likely not for you unless your technical area is in demand and very complex.

Whether you want to interact now or just read through the (long) history of how others have handled these situations, you'll find the nuance and encouragement it'll be hard to find elsewhere.

[1]: https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/

This comment hit the bullseye for how passive this felt to me. Everybody is different, and just being a focused contributor hoping people will assign you to what you like is OK. But it is career limiting.

You are getting a chance to work in a new domain, and it sounds like your company appreciates you enough to probably let you switch to even some other domain, just not what you are doing. My advice is look around for something your company really needs you can provide. Make a big noise that you want to do that thing, and do that thing.

Also, I would really ask around for some frank assessments. They could have moved you off your old project because the manager and senior engineer were close and nothing else. But there could be more going on there and you can't count on people to spell that out for you. You need to ask.

No, nobody is ever fully in charge of his or her own destiny, but the entire point of senior staff engineers is that you have the autonomy to exercise protagonism separate from your org structure, in ways that managers and directors do not. So... do the cross-org collaboration thing – and not because it's what you feel like, but because as a L7, it's literally your job to do that!

But what about the "two experts are already prominent as leaders" on your new team? Were they there when that team was building its "we are crap" reputation? Are they technical experts, who aren't really capital-L leadership material? Are there personality clashes, and maybe those guys need to be separated? Or, given the fired director, might management be looking to put a fresh set of trusted eyes (you) into the situation, to let 'em know what the problems on that team are?

You don’t control anything, you’re a figure in power game of directors and senior directors. They will think and you will deliver and get stocks and salary for that. Your happiness is secondary thing as I experienced first hand couple years ago. You should think how far are you ready to go for your compensation. Eventually your happiness, satisfaction and high salary can’t be combined. Which one will you choose?

The real question is what you do about it.

You can turn the bad project around - something they probably hope you do, but this may not be possible. There is a small chance they are trying to get you to fail or quit so they can get rid of you, but that is unlikely. Even if you don't turn the old project around, making good plans and showing leadership in a sinking ship can sometimes work out (but sometimes not), and it could be your 2 year duty in a bad spot before getting a new one.

You can tell the director you want a demotion to something in the old project. This usually looks bad, but it might be right for you. Taking this almost assuredly means you are forever giving up promotions. I'm guessing that you want the top position on the old project and so it won't be right for you.

You can find a new job elsewhere. Right now things are down but you can probably wait it out and then move.

Don't forget you can re-evaluate in 2 years! If a better opportunity comes up take it, but I would recommenced you give this new position 2 years of honest effort to see how it really is. 2 years is long enough to figure out a plan to turn it around (it won't turn it around but will have a plan). 2 years is enough to know if the stress is too high and you want a demotion never to raise to senior staff again. 2 years is enough to know if they are just putting you someplace and bringing you back or not. 2 years is enough to know if you like the new project. 2 years is enough to know how the people on the new project are. Right now you seem stuck in the early phase where the magic of a new position is lost but you don't know enough to be effective.

Or are they playing some 3D chess, and that was the plan all along?

Not that they are saying inherently bad things about the company, but the various doubts they express may not be seen as a strength (not that I wholeheartedly subscribe to that view).

I have never found any value in merely airing my feeling. Just say what you want, that is much easier for a boss to deal with.

Devil's in the details, but you have full control in your hands; you need to realize that you have full agency in your situation and lead from wherever you are in the org chart.

Career growth is (almost) never a completely straight line.

You will be promoted into positions, using languages, in domains, all of which isn’t “your” language or “your” domain.

If you’re being asked to do it that’s because someone recognized your innate skill and ability and is hoping you can apply it to this new team. If I were you, I would not let them down.

Lean in and do what you do. If it means re-tooling, then do it.

  - is an opportunity to shine
  - but also it is not the work
    you want to do

Of course, if it makes you miserable then maybe you should go elsewhere. But you should try to give it a go. Who knows, you might come to like it.

It sounds like vesting schedules are achieving their intended purpose by giving you incentive to stay.

Having been the 'go-to' person other posters mention... I suggest considerable hesitation. Inch, mile.

> I don't want my career and life to evolve by happenstance.

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

That's what being a leader means, you deal with the ambiguity, is paid more, but if things don't go as expected, you are axed.

The only thing that can save you is if you have built relationships with senior directors that could save you.

Just a reminder that Tomorrow the CEO can wake up and desire to cut people to increase their margins and Staff engineers working on improvements are the first to go.

There's no such thing as a career. Just focus on making money while you can.

Also, make sure you have a few doors open in case you need to get out.

This means you want to have a flexible skill set in case you need a new job, also a network of people that wants to work with you.

This has obvious risks of them not coming through once you achieve the first part, but if this team is as screwed as you describe and management are confident in you being able to unfuck it - and of needing somebody at your level of competence to do so - then it might turn out to be a net positive route for you, your career, the team, and the company.

Also might be easier to sell to the new boss, and a deadline for them to actually deliver on that promise if you can get it made of "when said stock vests" would fit your being willing to leave then and their being aware you've passed the vesting deadline for a decent chunk of options will probably give you a stronger position from which to press them to deliver at that point.

(of course there's lots of details here you know and I don't and I'm still on my first pot of coffee, but hopefully the general shape of the idea provides some inspiration that fits the full situation)

Cheers

Don't get too hung up on feeling in control, or preferring a comfortable domain. Everything in life is a blend of agency and context.

It honestly sounds like your Sr Director is looking out for you and pushing you towards not getting pigeonholed.

In his case, he was deliberately thrown at an underperforming team, because his boss knew he was (still is) a “fixer.” He can Get Stuff Done.

It worked. He got the underperforming team into shape.

He no longer works for that company, but that was because Amazon tossed a big bag of money at him, and hired him away. His old company would gladly hire him back.

Might want to consider that. May very well not be the case, here.

I just remember my friend saying almost exactly the same thing. In his case, he brought his concerns to his manager, who explained what was going on.

The reward for good work, is more work.

On the other hand, so long as employment primarily defines your identity your identity will always be defined arbitrarily by the place you work.

A new director is starting in two weeks. I don't know how much or whether to surface these issues to him.

If a letter of resignation is the means of expressing yourself, then it makes sense. Otherwise, wait until asked. Being senior means adapting to moved cheese. Good luck.

focus on engineering excellence, you seem to be too focused on your place/status in the org hierarchy.

Focus on making the team better and you will always have a home. Better yet, learn to be interested in how to make teams better.

That said, as lots are saying here, it seems you’re being given a great chance to ‘move up’. With a new director coming in, I’d say at least part of your job is removing tail risk from being in this new ‘loser’ group, and the rest is turning the group around. Also, congratulations!

I’d recommend the book “The First 90 Days” which is about taking on a new job. For the lazy, the two parts I think are salient here are that you should clarify what expectations are, ASAP, for the job. Turn around? Sustain? Grow? I bet you know the answer, but your incoming new director won’t necessarily. And, either way, you need to align with them on these goals to structure how you’ll report and perform.

Second, the first rule of the new job is: stop doing the old job. This is harder than it sounds.

Add it up, and I’d suggest you sit down with a status report for the new director when they come in, and can meet. I’d suggest that status report be as scathing as you can make it within the realms of verifiability — this is your one chance to pin anything bad on your forerunners; don’t let it go by unutilized.

Say what you think you should be doing, and what you hope the outcomes will be, and give the director space to give feedback and redirect.

I think for very high performers a conversation like “well, you and I know that this might be a hopeless case; I’m willing to work on this, but we need an agreement in case I can’t turn it around” is super, super fair.

If you come at it with this confidence and a viewpoint of partnering with your new boss, you’ll probably learn more of what they expect, and you’ll set terms down in case the group is unsaveable/doomed to mediocrity.

Side note, there’s an anecdote I like: “What’s the difference between a good therapist and a great one? The great one doesn’t take hopeless cases.” In my experience this is true of very high performers in the work world as well — very high performers don’t work on hopeless projects. Almost nobody can save a hopeless case, no matter how heroic they may be. So, if you’re certain this is hopeless, slightly different behavior might better signal your worth to management.

The way I see it, you already know that, hence this Freudian slip.

In my opinion, doing _only_ what we love, understand and care about is the path to depression.

You maybe anxious because you are being called to step out of your comfort zone?

Sounds like no one really prepped you for this.

Your job is to untwist the culture and get the group productive.

I suggest you do a lot of listening and learning before you start pushing hard.

Earn trust, and be a model collaborator, and as you earn respect, use it to understand and resolve the interpersonal dynamics.

Your job isn't about programming anymore, it's about people. Sorry.

There is a bit of contradiction in this and next statement.

> because I wasn't in control.

Control is the most important factor in managing emotions. People without control are 10x more likely to suffer from trauma. (Car accidents while driving vs being a passenger)

> It pains me to leave

Do you have ADHD? This looks like Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, talk to a specialist - I'm not one.

I personally don't enjoy environments where every management level shifts blame downwards and reorgs to find more scapegoats. I like environments where management wants to solve business problems because it helps the business, not as a CYA.

I would have coasted or quit. I find it impossible to not work a fair trade of my time and labor.

I just went through a similar thing but decided to gtfo to a different company

Work can be weird. This change may give you a chance to demonstrate incredible leadership while you turn the project around, or the project may not be in a position where it can be turned around. You’re unlikely to know which of those you’ll suffer until you’re already suffering.

But you can control how you are when you start. And taking a bit of time to mourn is a good way to set yourself up for a fresh start.

Nobody gives a fuck about you OP. It's all in your head. Also you work for a company. It's a legal entity which gives zero fucks to anything except its own stock price.

> I'm not willing to leave the company because its stock 6x'ed last year.

This is all the metrics that matter. Everything else is stories that you invented to have some purpose in life.

Then just try hard to ace your new task. Show that you repeatedly deliver value, also in more difficult situations.

To me, what this says, is that the other senior staff engineer was given a "promotion" in the form of managing "two" stacks, i.e. bigger head count. And you were essentially demoted to being moved over to another stack and team. Doubly so if that other team or stack or project is not seen as that important. The title they gave you was a way to placate you about the effective demotion.

But even that interpretation could be wrong. At the end of the day, it's the machinations of the company and based on decisions made by people in the "right room", a room you weren't a part of. No amount of rationalizations will make your feelings of the topic go away. I know this because I've been in similar situations, and those feelings never really go away, you will always feel slighted. Even if you raise it with management, at best they'll make you go away with manager-speak, at worst it'll colour every negative or hiccup that happens in your new position or project.

Alright, listen to this: I was happily working on my team, doing my thing—until the reorg hit like a bad punchline. Suddenly, another team from next door shows up, tinkering with a different stack in the same domain—because, of course, office politics is the real art here! Next thing you know, my director gets canned for “bad performance” (yeah, right), and the other team’s product flops spectacularly. And then they steal our stack—and me! Now I'm shoved into a new domain with a shiny title: senior staff engineer, on a team known for its underachievement. My heart’s still in the old domain, where I actually cared about the work. Now, with a new director arriving in two weeks, I’m left wondering if I should unload this absurd mess of corporate lunacy. But hey, the stock’s up 6x, so I’m not jumping ship. I mean, what’s the deal with this circus? It's like being stuck in a never-ending episode of a bad sitcom!