StaffEng

StaffEng

David Noël-Romas (@davidnoelromas) and Alex Kessinger (@voidfiles)

Episodes 23
Avg. Duration 45m
Activity Moderate
Apple Rating 4.8 (26)
Since Mar 2021
Latest Episode Jan 2026

Outreach Signals

Features Guests

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Weeks
Format
Episodic
Hosting
feeds.buzzsprout.com

About This Podcast

Conversations with software engineers who have progressed beyond the career level, into Staff levels and beyond. We discuss the areas of work that set Staff-plus level engineers apart from other individual contributors; things like setting technical direction, mentorship and sponsorship, providing engineering perspective to the org, etc.Hosted by David Noël-Romas (@davidnoelromas) and Alex Kessinger (@voidfiles).

Podcasting 2.0 Features

soundbite

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

We're back!

Jan 20, 2026 8m

After 3 years, we’re coming out of retirement, because something fundamental broke open in the last few months—something that changes everything about how we work.We Don’t Know How to Learn This…

Alex Kessinger (Stitch Fix) and David Noël-Romas (Stripe)

Dec 28, 2021 1h 7m

This episode is a celebration of the journey we have been on as this podcast comes to a close. We have had such a great time bringing you these interviews and we are excited about a new chapter,…

Peter Stout (Netflix)

Dec 14, 2021 52m

The structures of an organization can often be self-reinforcing, and in a changing environment, this becomes a recipe for future vulnerabilities. That is why senior ICs need to play a slightly…

James Cowling (Convex)

Nov 30, 2021 48m

Often the biggest impacts a Staff Engineer can make in their organization are not technical but rather people-related. When teams are value-aligned due to good leadership, they go on to make larger…

Bryan Berg (Stripe)

Nov 16, 2021 50m

Staff engineers may not get much time to code anymore, but this does not mean problem-solving and system design is not an integral part of their day-to-day. Today’s guest is Bryan Berg, Staff…

Ben Ilegbodu (Stitch Fix)

Nov 02, 2021 35m

Today we talk to Ben Ilegbodu, Principal Frontend Engineer at Stitch Fix, about how he manages to stay close to the code at a senior level. We hear how he arrived at Stitch Fix and what his first…

Ashby Winch

Oct 19, 2021 40m

Moving from an architect role to a product-oriented one might seem like a big leap, but there are overlaps between the two roles. Today's guest, Ashby Winch, has recently made this transition, and in…

Josh Kaderlan (Lob)

Oct 05, 2021 33m

Today’s guest is Josh Kaderlan, Staff Software Engineer at Lob, a direct mail and address verification API company that automates and simplifies direct mail and address verification, giving…

Ben Edmunds (Wayfair)

Sep 21, 2021 43m

During today’s conversation, we speak with Ben Edmunds, Senior Staff Engineer at Wayfair. You’ll hear all about his role at Wayfair, from his day-to-day active projects and how he goes about setting…

Nell Shamrell-Harrington (Microsoft)

Sep 07, 2021 42m

Today’s guest is a principal software engineer at Microsoft who works at the interface between external and internal elements of the organization. Nell Shamrell-Harrington works on the ClearlyDefined…

Rich Lafferty (PagerDuty)

Aug 24, 2021 49m

Oscillating between the roles of individual contributor and management has been a recurring theme on this show. Our guest today, Rich Lafferty, has some special insights into this pattern that can…

Mason Jones (Credit Karma)

Aug 10, 2021 45m

Credit Karma is a company that helps people understand their credit. Today’s guest, Mason Jones, was brought onto the Credit Karma team to move the company from a monolith to microservices. The…

Lorin Hochstein (Netflix)

Jul 27, 2021 48m

Today’s conversation is about resilience, and as today’s guest, Lorin Hochstein, notes; “Resilience is about the stuff that isn’t visible through the metrics.” Lorin is a senior software engineer at…

Stacey Gammon (Elastic)

Jul 13, 2021 46m

What works for a small company may not work for a large company, so what do you do when your organization experiences rapid growth, and the old way of doing things is no longer sustainable? In…

Will Larson (Calm)

Jun 29, 2021 48m

Please note that this episode contains brief mention of suicide.Today's guest needs no introduction! Of course, they will get one anyway:Will Larson is the CTO of Calm and has worked at Stripe, Uber,…

Mahdi Yusuf (1Password)

Jun 15, 2021 49m

Today’s guest is Mahdi Yusuf, Tech Lead for the Server Architecture Team at 1Password. Our conversation is about what it means as well as what it takes to navigate the needs of the org, client, and…

Amy Unger (GitHub)

Jun 01, 2021 36m

Amy Unger, our guest on today’s show, is passionate about providing a high-quality service to the customers who use the products she is working on. Amy has a diverse skill set and an equally diverse…

Brian Lawler (Iterable)

May 18, 2021 45m

Today we welcome Brian Lawler, who is a Principal Engineer at Iterable! Brian has a load of experience with software architecture, having worked in the space for over 25 years, at a number of…

Matthew Bilotti (Twitter)

May 04, 2021 49m

On today’s episode of StaffEng, we speak with the formidable Matthew Bilotti who works as a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Twitter and has been at the company for 11 years. Matthew currently leads…

Natalia Tepluhina (GitLab)

Apr 20, 2021 54m

As today’s guest, Natalia Tepluhina walks us through her professional history and describes her experiences at GitLab. After getting to know Natalia a little better, we talk about the challenges she…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does StaffEng have?

StaffEng has published 23 episodes since March 2021, covering topics in Technology.

Is StaffEng still active?

StaffEng is currently moderate with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 45m.

Similar Podcasts