Engineering Org Charts at Every Stage: How Teams Scale from 3 to 100 Engineers

As your company grows, your engineering org chart should evolve in a way that supports speed, reliability, and cross-functional collaboration. In this post, we'll break down what your org chart might look like at 4 key stages of growth: when you have 3, 10, 25, and 100 engineers.

We include not just engineering roles, but also how Product Management, QA, and Program Management integrate with the tech organization. At each stage, you'll see:

• Who reports to whom
• When to add new roles
• Common org structures for product/tech collaboration

Stage 1: Scrappy Beginnings (3 Engineers)

At this stage, everyone is wearing multiple hats. There’s no formal product or QA, and the CTO is writing production code.

CEO / Founder
└── CTO
    ├── Software Engineer (Mid/Senior)
    └── Junior Software Engineer

Key Characteristics:

• No dedicated PM or QA — priorities come from CEO or customers.
• CTO codes daily, likely owns infra and architecture.
• Mentorship is informal, often peer-to-peer.

What to Avoid:

• Avoid hiring for narrow specialist roles too early (e.g., QA, PM) unless core to your product.

Stage 2: First Layer of Structure (10 Engineers)

Now you’re Series A or a fast-growing bootstrapped startup. Product is getting more complex, and you need someone thinking about user needs full-time.

CEO
├── CTO
│   └── Engineering Manager
│       ├── Senior Software Engineer
│       ├── Frontend Engineer
│       ├── Backend Engineer
│       ├── Junior Software Engineer
│       └── DevOps Engineer
└── Head of Product
    └── Product Manager

Key Characteristics:

• First Product Manager hired to shape roadmap and handle customer discovery.
• Engineering Manager handles delivery and team execution.
• QA is still embedded (engineers write tests).

Common Pitfalls:

• PMs owning delivery instead of product strategy.
• CTO bottlenecking decisions without delegation.

Stage 3: Clear Ownership (25 Engineers)

At this size, engineering teams are split by product focus or function. Dedicated QA and Program Managers emerge.

CEO
├── CTO
│   ├── Director of Engineering
│   │   ├── EM - Platform
│   │   │   ├── Senior Backend Engineer
│   │   │   ├── Backend Engineer
│   │   │   └── DevOps Engineer
│   │   └── EM - Product Team
│   │       ├── Senior Frontend Engineer
│   │       ├── Frontend Engineer
│   │       ├── Fullstack Engineer
│   │       └── Junior Engineer
│   └── Program Manager
├── VP of Product
│   ├── PM - Core App
│   └── PM - Internal Tools
└── Head of QA
    └── QA Engineer(s)

Key Characteristics:

• Clear split between Product (PM) and Tech Delivery (EM).
• Program Manager ensures timelines and cross-team alignment.
• QA begins to stand alone, especially if you ship mission-critical features.

What to Avoid:

• QA becoming a bottleneck — shift toward automation.
• PMs managing engineers — keep reporting clean.

Stage 4: Scaled Org with Cross-Functional Domains (100 Engineers)

Now you’re a mid-sized tech company. Each department has its own leadership structure, with cross-functional collaboration at the team level.

CEO
├── CTO
│   ├── VP of Engineering
│   │   ├── Director of Engineering - Platform
│   │   │   ├── EM - DevOps
│   │   │   │   └── DevOps Engineers
│   │   │   └── EM - Internal Tools
│   │   │       └── Internal Tools Engineers
│   │   ├── Director of Engineering - Web
│   │   │   ├── EM - Checkout Team
│   │   │   │   ├── Tech Lead
│   │   │   │   ├── Engineers
│   │   │   │   └── Junior Engineers
│   │   │   └── EM - Onboarding Team
│   │   │       └── Engineers
│   │   └── Director of Engineering - Mobile
│   │       └── EM - Mobile Team
│   │           └── Mobile Engineers
│   └── Director of Program Mgmt
│       ├── Program Manager - Platform
│       └── Program Manager - Web
├── CPO (Chief Product Officer)
│   ├── VP of Product
│   │   ├── Director of Product - Web
│   │   │   ├── PM - Checkout
│   │   │   └── PM - Onboarding
│   │   └── Director of Product - Mobile
│   │       └── PM - Mobile
└── Head of QA
    ├── QA Automation Lead
    └── QA Engineers

Key Characteristics:

• Multiple product lines, each with its own PM and engineering team.
• Program Management becomes a critical function for dependency and release planning.
• QA includes both manual testers and automation specialists.

What to Avoid:

• Silos. Encourage regular syncs between Eng, Product, and QA.
• Too much process too soon. Balance agility with control.

Final Thoughts

There’s no single “perfect” org chart, but there are patterns that help you scale smoothly. As a rule:

• Keep reporting lines clean — PMs should not manage engineers.
• Encourage cross-functional pods once you pass 25 engineers.
• Invest in Program Management before it's a crisis.
• Empower PMs to focus on discovery and outcomes, not timelines.

Scaling is hard — but with the right structure, it doesn’t have to break your team.