Standardize role name for Fullstack, Backend, and Frontend Engineering Managers in the Development Department

Why is this change being made?

In the Development Department, teams are mostly Fullstack (can include a combination of Backend, Frontend, and Fullstack ICs) and there are only a few remaining Backend or Frontend Engineering Managers, with most now being Fullstack Engineering Managers, although this may not yet be reflected in Workday. With alignment on pay scales, the need to respond to global prioritization or engineering allocations it is proposed to remove the distinction between frontend, backend, and fullstack engineering manager roles in internal systems (such as Workday), and have this change reflected in our handbook and job families.

This merge request is intended to start that conversation and to discuss role naming.

1. In our internal system of record, all Engineering Manager roles within Development to be named Manager, Software Engineering
2. In our handbook, the EM and Engineering Manager abbreviation and name be retained, without the Fullstack, Backend, or Frontend prefix.
3. In our job families, we rename roles as Engineering Manager, without the Fullstack, Backend, or Frontend prefix.

Why Manager, Software Engineering for internal systems?

• In Workday, the convention is for people management roles to start with Manager, .
• Total Rewards recommends Manager, Software Engineering as an industry standard. Thread

What this MR does not do

Further changes would be needed in many places including:

• Workday
• Career development https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/career-development/#development-department -> Engineering Manager career development chart (!127170 - merged)
• Job families - Consolidate Development Department Engineering ... (gitlab-com/content-sites/handbook!288 - merged)
  • https://handbook.gitlab.com/job-families/engineering/development/management/fullstack-manager/ (this will become the primary EM role, renamed as engineering-manager)
• Onboarding / offboarding templates (TBC)
• team member YML files
• other handbook pages
  • Engineering team construction (!127597 - merged)

Scope of change

The scope of this MR is for Engineering Managers with "Fullstack", "Frontend", or "Backend" in their job titles. Manager, Machine Learning Engineering is excluded.

Author Checklist

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