What is a lead developer? A leader amongst their peers

A lead developer will still get their hands dirty in the codebase, but needs to know how to hire, lead, and talk to management.

A lead developer’s twin roles are laid out right there in the job title: they must simultaneously be a developer by staying intimately involved in the technical work of their department or business unit, and a leader, helping to guide their team to realize their potential and further the organization’s goals.

Every organization has somewhat different expectations for different job descriptions, and, depending on an organization’s size, someone with a lead developer title could find themselves helping make big-picture strategy decisions, or somewhere near the bottom of the management ladder.

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