Ask HN: Lead developer but I just don't enjoy management

I hesitate to respond, because I'm generally not interested in arguing on the internet. I'm also not entirely sure if you're just being pedantic or not, but IMO this is a pretty narrow view of "career progression."

You don't need to manage people to level up in technical skills and leadership, and you certainly don't need to sign contracts to lead a project. There are plenty of ways to get more money and more responsibility that don't involve eventually becoming the CEO.

I personally have three Principal Engineers that work for me. They don't sign contracts, but I can give them a project and they'll do all of the technical designs and mentoring and development, while my managers can focus on more people-related things, such as inter-team collaboration, daily rituals, performance reviews, promotions, engaging with team members to keep up morale and productivity, and more. And for what it's worth, my managers are not authorized to sign contracts, either -- but they're still managers!

"I tried telling myself that it's a childish and idealistic way of thinking and that it's all a part of career progression regardless of where you work at..."

It's most definitely not! Many seem to think it is, because of perceived status ("how are you still a developer in your 40s?!"). Be whatever you want to be, not what your current boss wants you to be.

There's no shame in this and it's ridiculously common. You have to tell your boss, who clearly values you, but first decide whether you want to try to fix this yourself or you want your boss to fix it.

Fix it yourself: you stay in roughly your current position but you hire someone to take on the tasks you don't like. Sort of like an assistant manager or whatever you want to call it. It needs to be someone with some technical and some managerial skills. This approach will still leave you with some stress and responsibility though.

Have your boss fix it: say you're a great developer but a mediocre manager, and everyone will be happier and more productive if they find someone else to take on this role. You can help interview for the role, or suggest someone else in the company for it. You'll remain a senior technical leader but will relinquish control and responsibility.

> I don't like sitting with someone for a couple hours to explains how I'd like things done, or having to fix something they've done wrong.

I don't think you'll want to give this part up completely though. If you don't do this, eventually the code base will become full of code you don't like, and even though you're back to the work you like, your technical satisfaction will decrease.

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Delegate. You don't like hiring? Ask people in the org who wants to do it and take more responsibility. Don't want to worry about capacity? Hire an engineering manager who will take care of it (or again, maybe someone in the org wants to pick it up). Focus on things where you can bring the most value to the company.