Select your current position

Pick a role and level — we'll show the growth path, skills and gap analysis.

Development path

Junior

0-2 years

Current

Responsibility: Completing tasks under the guidance of senior colleagues. Learning the codebase, standards, and team processes. Writing code to spec, fixing simple bugs, writing tests.

Key skills:

API Documentation Writing Need
Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42 Need
Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2 Need
Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora Need
Knowledge Base Management Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
Technical Blogging Need
User Documentation Need
Documentation as Code Need

Middle

2-5 years

Next

Responsibility: Independently developing features from decomposition to deployment. Participating in code review. Optimizing performance. Mentoring junior developers. Taking part in architecture discussions.

Key skills:

API Documentation Writing Need
Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42 Need
Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2 Need
Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora Need
Knowledge Base Management Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
Technical Blogging Need
User Documentation Need
Documentation as Code Need

Senior

5-8 years

Responsibility: Designing the architecture of components and services. Solving complex technical problems. Managing technical debt. Code review as a quality gatekeeper. Mentoring middle developers. Choosing technologies for new tasks.

Key skills:

API Documentation Writing Need
Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42 Need
Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2 Need
Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora Need
Knowledge Base Management Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
Technical Blogging Need
User Documentation Need
Documentation as Code Need

Lead / Staff

7-12 years

Responsibility: Technical leadership of a team or area. Designing system architecture. Coordinating with other teams. Establishing standards and best practices. Participating in hiring. Planning the technical roadmap.

Key skills:

API Documentation Writing Need
Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42 Need
Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2 Need
Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora Need
Knowledge Base Management Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
Technical Blogging Need
User Documentation Need
Documentation as Code Need

Principal

10+ years

Responsibility: Technical strategy at the company or domain level. Cross-organizational influence. Solving systemic business problems through technology. Mentoring lead engineers. Publicly representing the company.

Key skills:

API Documentation Writing Need
Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42 Need
Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2 Need
Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora Need
Knowledge Base Management Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
Technical Blogging Need
User Documentation Need
Documentation as Code Need

Gap analysis: skills to develop

To reach the next level you'll need to develop:

API Documentation Writing

Writes comprehensive API guides: quickstart, authentication flow, error handling, use cases. Creates code samples in multiple languages (curl, Python, JavaScript, Go). Maintains terminology and style consistency across all API docs sections.

Architecture Documentation: C4, arc42

Creates comprehensive architecture documentation with architects: system context, container diagrams, component diagrams (C4). Documents data flows, external system integrations, deployment topology. Keeps documentation up to date.

Diagramming: Mermaid, PlantUML, D2

Creates complex technical diagrams: C4 model (all 4 levels), data flow diagrams, state machines, ER diagrams. Uses diagrams-as-code tools (Mermaid, PlantUML). Maintains visual consistency and diagram readability.

Docs-as-Code: MkDocs, Docusaurus, Antora

Confidently works with 2-3 docs-as-code frameworks. Configures navigation, search, versioning, custom components. Uses MDX/RST extensions, plugins for diagrams, code highlighting. Integrates docs build into CI/CD.

Knowledge Base Management

Designs knowledge base information architecture: taxonomy, navigation, search optimization. Creates content governance: templates, naming conventions, review processes. Ensures content freshness through scheduled reviews.

REST API Design

Creates comprehensive REST API documentation in OpenAPI/Swagger: paths, schemas, security, examples. Documents API design conventions: naming, pagination, filtering, error format. Configures Swagger UI / Redoc for interactive documentation.

Runbook & Playbook Writing

Independently creates runbooks for production systems: deployment procedures, incident response, disaster recovery. Ensures step-by-step clarity and unambiguity of instructions. Conducts dry-run testing of runbooks with the operations team.

Technical Blogging

Regularly writes technical posts: deep-dive articles, comparison articles, best practices guides. Optimizes content for SEO and developer audience. Works with CMS (WordPress, Ghost, dev.to). Creates content plans for engineering blogs.

User Documentation

Creates comprehensive user documentation: information architecture, content hierarchy, cross-references. Writes for different audiences (beginners, advanced users, admins). Uses user feedback to improve documentation.

Documentation as Code

Fully works in docs-as-code workflow: branch, write, PR, review, merge, deploy. Configures CI/CD for automated documentation building and publishing. Uses linting (markdownlint, vale) for text quality control.