Distinguished Engineering Tools Engineer
Company/industry authority
Career Explorer · Engineering · Engineering Tools
Rare / selective
What the role involves
- Autonomy
- Sets company-wide direction in a discipline
- Scope
- Company-wide / external ecosystem
- Time horizon
- Multi-year
- Expertise and judgement
- Industry-recognized thought leadership; establishes new paradigms
- Expected impact
- Materially shifts company strategy, technology, profession or market position
Expected skills (21)
Grouped as human, professional and technical. Target proficiency uses the P1–P5 scale, and each row says what that level means for that particular skill.
Human (10)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountability Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Active listening Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
| Collaboration Collaboration & Leadership | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Critical thinking Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Customer empathy Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Learning agility Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Ownership Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Problem solving Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Verbal communication Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
| Written communication Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
Professional (1)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business acumen Business & Strategy | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
Technical (10)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programming fundamentals Software Engineering | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| CI/CD Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Code review Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Debugging Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Reliability engineering Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Secure coding Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Software architecture Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Software design patterns Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Unit testing Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Version control Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
Career ladder
Reached from
Next steps
- Fellow, Engineering ToolsIC8IC promotion
Move from distinguished authority to rare fellow-level impact; demonstrate sustained, category-defining contribution recognized inside and outside the company.
What changes to advance
Move from distinguished authority to rare fellow-level impact; demonstrate sustained, category-defining contribution recognized inside and outside the company.
Source: SFIA; Microsoft Careers · JF0054-IC7