Kyle McVeigh is a Software Engineer and Vice President based in New York City. From the perspective of an Software Engineer, Kyle shares how Product Managers, Designers and Software Engineers work together.
For more of Kyle's posts, visit his website or learn about his experience on LinkedIn.
As a product engineer working within a traditional business, I work closely with the business team and the executives. I am very often asked by coworkers at all levels what it is I do as a software engineer, and how do the product manager and designers fit into that. It is an awkward conversation when business team leads come up to me, as a software engineer, with feature requests and business justifications. When I tell them, you need to take this information to the product manager, I actually don't have absolute control on what we're building, the typical reaction is shock. I'm going to take the rest of this article to explain the role of product managers, designers, and software engineers.
What does a Product Manager do?
Product Managers determine what needs to be built in order to achieve the business goals. The best product managers have a strong understanding of business objectives, customer needs, and the underlying technology. Product Managers (abbreviated PMs) determine feature priority. They are responsible for translating high-level business strategy into concrete product initiatives. Based on our experience hiring 0+ technical professionals for 549+ active startup clients, we observe that PMs are critical for driving alignment between business strategy and engineering efforts. For a practical standpoint, the Product Manager has the below responsibilities (this is an incomplete list):
Construct the long-term feature roadmap: This involves strategic planning, market analysis, and user research to define the product's direction and key milestones. They often coordinate across departments to ensure the roadmap aligns with company-wide goals. Write detailed feature tickets: PMs translate roadmap items into specific, actionable user stories and requirements for the engineering team. These tickets clearly articulate the problem, desired outcome, and acceptance criteria. Justify technology investments to business leads: They act as the bridge between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders, explaining the "why" behind technical decisions and ensuring business leaders understand the value and feasibility. Convey business needs to engineers: PMs ensure engineers fully grasp the business context and user problems they are solving, providing clarity that helps in developing effective solutions. Their communication helps ensure that the ~$252K average salary for placed engineers is directly contributing to strategic business outcomes.
What does a Product Designer do?
Designers work with Product Managers to determine how the technology will feel and function from a user perspective. They create an experience for the customer that is aligned with the company's vision and brand. The best designers are able to extract feedback from end-customers, understand user behavior, and collaborate with engineers to design a realistic and intuitive product. Their work directly impacts user adoption and satisfaction, which is crucial for startups aiming for rapid growth and market fit. Designers have the below responsibilities (this is an incomplete list):
Deliver website and application designs: This includes detailed visual designs specifying colors, layout, typography, interaction patterns, and change-states for various user interfaces. They create prototypes and mockups to visualize the user experience. Meet with customers to receive product feedback: Through usability testing, interviews, and surveys, designers gather insights on current features and proposed designs to ensure they meet user needs and expectations. This iterative feedback loop is vital for product refinement. Work with engineers within technological limitations: Designers collaborate closely with engineering teams to understand technical constraints and opportunities. They ensure that proposed designs are feasible to build within the given resources and timelines, preventing scope creep and ensuring a smooth development process.
What does a Software Engineer do?
Software Engineers are responsible for how the technology is built, maintained, and altered. They are the builders who turn product and design specifications into functional software. Equally important, engineers set the pace of innovation by providing the product team with time and difficulty estimates in the form of story points or similar metrics. Good software engineers are able to update applications with new features, or change existing features, in a quick and consistent manner, ensuring high quality and reliability. The average time to fill for engineers across our 0+ technical placements is 29 days, reflecting the high demand for capable engineering talent. Software Engineers work closely with both product and design to ensure they understand the requirements, including edge cases and technical implications. Software Engineers have the below responsibilities (this is an incomplete list):
Write code to deliver updates to the technology: This involves translating design mockups and product requirements into clean, efficient, and maintainable code. They are responsible for selecting appropriate technologies and architectural patterns. Provide estimates on effort and difficulty: Engineers assess the complexity of proposed features and provide realistic estimates to the product team. These estimates are critical for effective sprint planning and roadmap prioritization. Fix bugs: They diagnose and resolve defects that arise when the software is not functioning as intended or according to previously supplied requirements. This includes debugging, testing, and deploying fixes to ensure product stability and performance. Ensure system scalability and reliability: Beyond feature development, engineers are often responsible for architecting solutions that can scale with user growth and maintaining the stability and security of the existing infrastructure.
How Product, Design, and Engineering Collaborate
Every organization is a bit different, but this framework has helped me explain to the business team about my responsibilities and how we collaborate. The synergy between these three functions is crucial for successful product development, particularly within fast-paced seed through Series C startups where we specialize in placing engineering and AI/ML roles. I plan on writing a follow up article about the different types of software engineers (backend, frontend, etc.) and the role of an engineering manager. I leave you with a final example I use often at work to illustrate their distinct but interconnected roles:
Imagine you're using a website and staring at an embedded document, and there is a 'Download as PDF' button.
If you don't need a PDF but need the document as a Word document, the Product Manager has failed to determine the needs of the user. Their research and prioritization missed a key user requirement. If there is an affordance for downloading the document as a Word document, but it is hidden in some menu and you need assistance finding it, the Designer has failed to deliver a good user experience. The interface is not intuitive. And finally, if there is a download as Word document button, but you get an error message or it downloads as a corrupted file, the Software Engineer has failed to deliver a working product. The implementation is flawed.
Success requires all three roles to perform effectively and cohesively.
Why Recruiting from Scratch Knows This
Recruiting from Scratch (RFS) has extensive real-world experience in the technical hiring market. Since our founding in New York City in 2019, we have partnered with 549+ active startup clients, specializing in Engineering and AI/ML roles from seed through Series C. In our data from 0+ technical placements, we've gained firsthand insight into the practical responsibilities, collaborative dynamics, and market value of Product Managers, Designers, and Software Engineers. This deep market knowledge allows us to consistently place top talent, with an average time to fill of just 29 days from req open to offer accepted, and an average salary of ~$252K for placed engineers. Our NPS of 90+ further validates our expertise and client satisfaction in this specialized domain.
FAQ
How long does it take to hire a staff engineer?
Based on our data from 0+ technical placements, the average time to fill for an engineer is 29 days from the moment a requisition is opened to an offer being accepted. This timeframe reflects our specialization and efficient process in placing top engineering talent.
What is the average salary for a software engineer at a startup?
We observe an average salary of ~$252K for the engineers we have placed at seed through Series C startups. This figure can vary based on experience, location, and the specific technology stack.
What does a contingency recruiting firm charge for technical hires?
Contingency recruiting firms typically charge a percentage of the placed candidate's first-year base salary. At Recruiting from Scratch, our contingency fee ranges from 25-30% for technical placements.
What kind of startups does Recruiting from Scratch specialize in?
Recruiting from Scratch specializes in placing Engineering and AI/ML roles across seed through Series C startups. We partner with fast-growing companies that are innovating in various technical domains.
What is the difference between a Product Manager, Designer, and Software Engineer?
A Product Manager defines
what needs to be built to achieve business goals, focusing on strategy and prioritization. A Designer determines
how the product will look and feel from a user experience perspective. A Software Engineer is responsible for
how the technology is constructed and maintained, translating designs and requirements into working code.
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