Why Engineering Managers Need a Community
Posted on:
by Sean Whelan
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Being in a leadership position isn’t always easy and that’s something I’m reminded of constantly in conversations with Engineering Managers.
You’re supporting your teams, driving delivery, navigating change, and balancing a whole range of expectations. Yet more often than not, you’re doing it alone. You might have a strong internal team or company support, but what many leaders are missing is a genuine external peer network.
Let’s talk about why this matters and what we’re doing to change that.
One of the most common things I hear from EMs I work with is this feeling of isolation. There’s little time to connect with others in similar roles and few places to have honest conversations about challenges without needing to “perform.”
Often, leaders are asking me:
“How are others managing performance conversations?”
“What are peers doing to retain talent during budget squeezes?”
“Is anyone else feeling the strain of leading through constant change?”
What Are We Doing About it?
On the 26th of June, I alongside my colleague hosted a small lunch in Dublin with six Engineering Managers from different companies. There was no agenda, just the space to talk openly.
Topics ranged from:
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Team restructures
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Supporting junior developers in hybrid environments
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Setting up career progression frameworks
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Managing delivery versus burnout
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Balancing stakeholder pressure
What I noticed straight away when the conversation started rolling; Pain points were the first thing people spoke about. It felt like they were all hoping each guest would have the same pain point so they could bounce ideas off each other.
What does an Engineering Managers Community look like?
Following that lunch, we’ve started to build a small but growing community for engineering leaders in Ireland. Here’s what we’ve put in place:
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A private WhatsApp group for managers to ask questions and share insights
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A plan for regular, casual meetups with small groups and focused conversations
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A space for knowledge sharing that goes beyond recruitment
As a recruiter, I’m here to do more than match talent to jobs. I want to be a true partner to the people building tech teams and sometimes that starts by just giving them space to talk.
This is community is not an opportunity for me to bombard engineering managers with questions regarding recruitment or how they might attract talent - its built around them and what issues they have, of course we will be happy to give advice on the market and what tools and resources we would use for talent acquisition but the main focus here is for them to connect and get talking each other rather than them being there to hear what we have to say.
Looking Ahead: Want to Get Involved?
If you're an Engineering Manager or in a similar leadership role and want to connect with others navigating the same challenges, I’d love to invite you into the group.
It’s free, it’s informal, and it’s about community, not KPIs.
Whether you’re looking for engineering manager networking in Ireland, support with leadership development, or just curious to hear how others are handling the same hurdles, you’re more than welcome. You can send us a quick message here to show your interest.
I would love to discuss this topic further and answer any questions you may have regarding the community. If you're also currently looking for new IT roles in Dublin please head over to our careers page and we’ll be happy to help.
