A question for engineers who have been tech leads. Where did your career progress to, what was your next role?
I ask this as a current tech lead, trying to work out the next stage in my career and where I might like to go.
If you want to go the management route, Camille Fournier wrote The Manager's Path. Very well received book.
It lead nowhere. They outsourced the product I supported. Then I started over on another obscure tech/stack and they cut the headcount 50%. Then I started over again on a more mainstream tech/stack.
So 3-4 years later, here I am. Still a midlevel dev. No real opportunities. Working a job I hate to support my family. But I guess I don't really count since they never officially promoted me.
I can second the book from Camille Fournier. I've read multiple manager books and her book is the best I've read. Very practical and dense without bullshit.
Or you can try to work on the architecture and security of the code, which is more a strategic way of software.