Software Engineering Competencies
These competencies describe the technical skills needed for software engineering at Cadence OneFive. Engineers grow through progressive mastery—typically excelling in some areas while developing others. The goal is demonstrating overall impact and capability rather than perfection in every dimension.
Design and deliver technical solutions
Section titled “Design and deliver technical solutions”Build software that solves real problems and creates value.
At developing levels, implement well-defined features with guidance and clear requirements. With growing proficiency, take complex features from requirements to completion independently and contribute to technical decisions. Advanced practitioners design significant systems that other engineers build upon and set technical standards for the team. Expert engineers drive technical strategy across multiple products, making architectural decisions that significantly impact company direction.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Writes clean, maintainable code following established patterns
- Breaks down problems into manageable components
- Delivers working software iteratively
- Makes appropriate technology choices for the context
- Builds systems that scale with business needs
Collaborate and elevate the team
Section titled “Collaborate and elevate the team”Work effectively with others and help the team improve.
At developing levels, ask good questions, document work clearly, and participate in team routines like code reviews and on-call rotations. With growing proficiency, mentor junior engineers, lead technical discussions, and improve team processes. Advanced practitioners mentor multiple engineers, lead cross-component initiatives, and drive engineering culture. Expert engineers develop talent organization-wide and serve as advice process stakeholders across multiple products.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Gives and receives constructive code review feedback
- Shares knowledge through documentation and pairing
- Contributes to improving engineering processes
- Helps teammates succeed and grow
- Participates actively in team rituals and practices
Connect technical decisions to product impact
Section titled “Connect technical decisions to product impact”Understand how technology choices affect users and business outcomes.
At developing levels, understand feature requirements and user impact for assigned work, plus relevant building science concepts. With growing proficiency, suggest feature improvements and understand broader product context and industry workflows. Advanced practitioners influence product direction, balance technical debt against feature work, and leverage industry knowledge to guide strategy. Expert engineers shape product strategy through a technical lens and integrate industry expertise with technical vision to drive competitive advantage.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Asks questions about user needs and business goals
- Considers product implications of technical decisions
- Applies domain knowledge to inform technical choices
- Balances engineering quality with delivery speed
- Thinks beyond immediate features to long-term product evolution
Work independently and take ownership
Section titled “Work independently and take ownership”Drive work forward without waiting to be told what to do.
At developing levels, work with regular guidance and code review. With growing proficiency, work independently on defined projects while seeking guidance on architectural decisions. Advanced practitioners own complete project delivery and make architectural decisions with minimal oversight. Expert engineers identify and solve ambiguous, high-impact problems independently, owning technical outcomes that span multiple products and directly impact business strategy.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Proactively identifies and addresses problems
- Asks for help when blocked, but explores solutions first
- Takes responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks
- Makes pragmatic decisions with available information
- Follows through on commitments
Master the technical stack
Section titled “Master the technical stack”Build deep expertise in relevant technologies and tools.
At developing levels, learn core technologies and best practices with guidance. With growing proficiency, work effectively with the full stack independently and stay current on technical developments. Advanced practitioners set technical standards, evaluate new technologies, and guide technology adoption decisions. Expert engineers drive technology strategy across the organization and integrate emerging technologies with business needs.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Writes proficient code in product’s core languages
- Effectively uses product’s frameworks and libraries
- Understands cloud infrastructure and deployment for the product
- Works comfortably with the product’s data storage technologies
- Applies architectural patterns appropriate to the product
- Stays current on relevant technical developments
Design maintainable systems
Section titled “Design maintainable systems”Create architectures that teams can understand and evolve.
At developing levels, implement features following existing architectural patterns with guidance. With growing proficiency, design components within established architecture and contribute to architectural discussions. Advanced practitioners design complete system architectures, establish architectural patterns, and make tradeoffs between competing concerns. Expert engineers define architectural vision across multiple systems and drive adoption of architectural standards organization-wide.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Evaluates technology choices for long-term maintainability
- Applies architectural principles for scalability
- Designs clear interfaces between system components
- Documents architectural decisions and tradeoffs
- Considers operational implications of design choices
Build reliable software through testing
Section titled “Build reliable software through testing”Implement and test features to ensure quality and reliability.
At developing levels, implement and test well-defined features with guidance, writing unit tests following established patterns. With growing proficiency, implement and test complex features independently, designing comprehensive test strategies and contributing to test infrastructure. Advanced practitioners establish testing standards, build test frameworks and tooling, and ensure the team follows testing best practices. Expert engineers drive testing culture and strategy across the organization.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Writes automated tests at appropriate levels (unit, feature, browser)
- Creates test plans that cover critical functionality
- Uses testing to drive better designs
- Maintains tests as code evolves
- Reviews code carefully for correctness and edge cases
Ship code efficiently
Section titled “Ship code efficiently”Deploy code safely and frequently using modern practices.
At developing levels, use existing CI/CD pipelines to deploy changes with guidance. With growing proficiency, manage deployments independently, troubleshoot pipeline issues, and contribute to deployment improvements. Advanced practitioners design and implement CI/CD pipelines, establish deployment best practices, and ensure reliable releases. Expert engineers drive deployment and infrastructure strategy across multiple products.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Works with CI/CD pipelines effectively
- Uses containerization and orchestration tools
- Applies infrastructure as code principles
- Sets up monitoring and observability
- Handles incidents and learns from production issues
Work effectively with data
Section titled “Work effectively with data”Design schemas, write queries, and derive insights from data.
At developing levels, write basic queries and understand existing schema with guidance. With growing proficiency, design database schemas for features, optimize queries, and ensure data quality. Advanced practitioners design complex data models, establish data management patterns, and guide database architecture decisions. Expert engineers drive data strategy across the organization and integrate data systems with business intelligence needs.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Designs normalized database schemas
- Writes efficient SQL queries
- Ensures data quality and integrity
- Handles data transformations and migrations
- Uses data to inform decisions and measure impact
Establish and follow best practices
Section titled “Establish and follow best practices”Research, adopt, and improve engineering standards.
At developing levels, learn and follow team coding standards and practices with guidance. With growing proficiency, research best practices, contribute to team standards, and help others follow established patterns. Advanced practitioners establish engineering standards, drive adoption of best practices, and continuously improve team processes. Expert engineers define engineering culture and practices organization-wide and ensure alignment with industry standards.
Key behaviors
Section titled “Key behaviors”- Researches and applies industry best practices
- Contributes to team standards and conventions
- Ensures work meets quality standards
- Documents patterns for others to follow
- Balances consistency with pragmatism