Value Driven Careers

How to Ask for a Promotion as a Software Engineer in 2026

Airbnb

Omnicell

Delta

Justin Otero

Director of Engineering @ Navan | Career Coach | Hiring Manager

Understand the truth behind how promotions and raises actually work

What actually drives promotions

Talk tracks on what to say and ask so you can uncover gaps, understand the bar, and get aligned with your manager.

How to have a conversation with your manager

Identify areas you need to improve on and your next steps

How to create a clear and actionable path forward

Learn actionable specific standards by which executives are selected and how to manage your promotion process to show you meet them. 

Former Amazon VP; 70+ patents; led 800+

Amazon

Ethan Evans

Former Amazon VP; 70+ patents; led global teams of 800+

Cohort 9

Cohort 10

WHAT TO EXPECT:12+ total hours of content: 6+ hours of core lecture material video recordings for self-learning followed by 6+ hours of live sessions (Q&amp;A, implementation advice, and peer networking). All live sessions are video recorded so you can catch up and revisit. Scope, team size, and consistent high-impact results are important...But are not enough. I will teach you specific actionable steps on how to prioritize the things that matter to executives.MANY ALUMNI GOT PROMOTED / LANDED NEW JOBS:<ul><li>"Happy to share that due to executing some of the tactics shared in the program (taking action for one), I have been successful in getting myself promoted." — Promoted to Director</li><li>“I give so much credit to the Level Up: Breaking through to the Executive course and getting a front seat to Ethan's coaching and wisdom.” — Promoted to Director</li><li>“Leadership was seeing the adaptability that I exhibited in continuing to add business value and I got positive feedback from the VP on my flexibility." — Promoted to Director</li><li>“What was key was that I actively participated in the live course AND followed through with some participants afterwards to talk shop and build relationships.” — Landed FAANG Role</li></ul>

Level Up from Senior Manager to Executive

The Standards of Executive Performance: Your Personal Performance

The Standards of Executive Performance: Your Team Performance

The Standards of Executive Performance: Your Company Performance

Great Executive Performance (additional content)

Manage Your Promotion Process to Win

Ambitious Senior Managers from all disciplines at startups and large companies who want to become true executives.

Those managing large groups, managers of managers, including Amazon and Google L7, Meta M2, and Microsoft 66/67.

Also applicable to Senior Individual Contributors (ICs).

Learn skills and competencies to grow beyond Senior Engineer and thrive in a lead role (Team Lead, Tech Lead (Staff), Engineering Manager).

CTO, Author

Google

Microsoft

Revolut

Gregor Ojstersek

CTO, Author | Helping 200k+ people be great engineering leaders across platforms

Cohort 7

Cohort 8

As engineers, we are used to having things in our control - the outcome of the task normally depends on our implementation. Growing from senior engineer to a lead role requires a mindset shift. You become a multiplier for the team and helping others around you becomes one of the main priorities. You are not judged by your individual contribution anymore. The overall success of the team and projects is what becomes important.In this course:<ul><li>We will define the difference between engineering lead roles and different career paths (1st week)</li><li>We will define the exact steps you need to take to grow toward a lead role (1st and 2nd week)</li><li>We will define the details to help you thrive in a lead role (2nd week)</li><li>10 exercises that will help you to apply your learnings immediately</li><li>Bonus:<ul><li>You'll receive 28 guides, templates and infographics (worth $385) to help you to grow past senior engineer and thrive in a lead role.</li><li>You'll receive a yearly paid subscription to the Engineering Leadership newsletter (200+ articles) (worth 120$)</li><li>A lot of other materials for self-study and to learn further!</li></ul></li></ul>

Grow past senior engineer and develop the mindset needed for the lead role!

You'll know the exact differences between engineering lead roles

You'll know the exact path you wish to take for your next step in your career

You'll know the exact steps you need to take to grow toward the engineering lead

You'll know the details to help you thrive in the engineering lead role

You'll get 28 guides and templates, and a free paid subscription

Senior Software Engineers who wish to learn the competencies needed to grow and thrive in the Lead role (Tech Lead (Staff), Team Lead, EM).

Ambitious Software Engineers&nbsp;that want to level up and get to know all the skills needed in order to grow and thrive in a lead role.

Everyone in the engineering lead role who wishes to thrive in the role or help their reports with actionable steps towards a lead role.

Tactical “how to” insights to stand out, accelerate your growth, and use AI as your career copilot.

Cofounder at Level Up; $1B+ P&L; led 40+

Dentsu

IPG Mediabrands

Harvard Business Review

Techstars

Jason P. Yoong

COO at Level Up (former Amazon, VP at Dentsu, startup founding team $8M seed)

Ethan Evans (special guest)

Cohort 1

Cohort 2

WHAT TO EXPECT:8+ hours of live instruction, all live on Zoom taught by Jason and two dedicated sessions with Ethan. We will focus on the "why" and tactical actionable pieces around the "HOW" that you can apply immediately (with specific AI Action Prompts). There will be dedicated time to small group discussions, sharing, peer networking (to build your network of like-minded ambitious professionals now) and Q&amp;A.YOUR TRANSFORMATION:BEFORE:- “I don’t know how to stand out.”- “I do not have executive sponsors nor champions.”- “I do great work, but I sometimes get overlooked.”&nbsp;- “I know the promotion process, but I do not know how to drive it successfully.”- “My career is good, but I want it to be better and faster now.” (I am ambitious)AFTER:- “I know exactly what to do differently tomorrow!”- “I have clear steps to stand out and increase my visibility.”- “I know the blueprint to lead and drive my promotion process.”

Fast track your career flywheel and progression now (early momentum compounds)

How to own your career & promote yourself

How to better manage up and drive real change & impact

How to stand out, be visible, and get executive sponsorship

How to lead your promotion conversation

Be Forward-Thinking

AI Action Prompts & Document Templates

Ambitious individual contributors (ICs) and first/second time managers with &lt;15 years experience who want to get promoted

Applicable to all domains: product managers, mkt leads, program managers, engineers, UX designers, operations, analysts, chief of staff

People who have a go-getter attitude and produced strong outcomes at work but find the promotion process challenging or ambiguous

By the end of the course, you’ll have a customized operating system for how you work, learn, and grow – mapped to your real job, not theory.

Software Engineer, Mental Architect

GitHub

Brainly

EPAM

Alex Migutsky

Self-taught Software Engineer turned Coach. Helped 400+ people with their career

Initial Cohort

January 2026

Tech changes fast. AI is the new shiny thing. Hiring market is shaky.Your real job security is being the person your manager trusts with ambiguous, high-leverage problems. Upgrade how you think, communicate, and execute so you become the engineer your manager trusts with the big bets - everywhere, from studios and small startups to Big Tech. You’re not stuck because you don’t know enough tech. You’re stuck because nobody sees the full value you bring. 👉 Here’s the uncomfortable truth: managers don’t promote the “best coder”. They promote the engineer who:<ul><li>Consistently works on high-leverage problems</li><li>Communicates clearly and reduces risk</li><li>Is visible to the right people at the right time</li><li>Makes the team and business better and faster</li></ul> This program gives you a practical Career Growth Operating System (CarGOS) - built on "Trust → Value → Visibility → Leverage" framework - so you can: <ul><li>Stop being the “reliable implementer” and start being seen as a high-impact engineer</li><li>Focus on the work that actually moves the business</li><li>Make your impact impossible to ignore</li></ul> 🔒 Secure your career in the age of AI!🔋Checklists, frameworks and how-to instructions are included

Become the engineer people trust with hard and impactful problems!

"Trust → Value → Visibility → Leverage" as your default lens

 Attention BIOS: a personal system for focus and execution

Senior-level communication and relationship building

Continuous learning with visible proof of work

A clearer map of the tech career ladder

This isn’t a “watch some videos and forget about it” course. It’s designed to change how you work week to week.

Time for experiments

Ideally, you should have at least 2 years of full-time experience (or 3 different full-time projects).

Job experience

This is a coaching-heavy course. It will be difficult to integrate all ideas and habits if you feel a lot of internal resistance.

Openness to change and personal transformation

Mid-level software engineers who feel stuck, under-titled, or underpaid and want a clear path to Senior+ level impact and recognition

Senior engineers who deliver a lot but struggle to turn that into influence, decision power, or the next level

Ambitious juniors (2+ years experience or equivalent projects) who want to skip years of trial and error and build senior habits early