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Performance review template for an engineering manager
A ready-to-use, section-by-section template with the competencies that matter for an engineering manager, role-specific example phrases, and a guard against the stock filler that makes most reviews read as generic. Copy the structure, fill in your evidence, or skip the writing entirely with Crestento.
The template
Four sections, in this order. Length should match the evidence you have — a thin section is honest; an invented paragraph is not.
Summary
One or two paragraphs setting the context: what was expected of engineering manager this period, and your overall verdict. Lead with the headline.
Example phrasing
“Delivered the OKR-committed Q3 platform migration on time, ran a clean 1:1 cadence with all eight reports, promoted one senior to staff via documented evidence, and held service availability at 99.92% through a major regional outage event.”
Strengths
The behaviours and outcomes that made the work happen. Anchor in evidence: OKR / commitment delivery rate, service-level availability of owned services, team retention rate.
- Evidence for: team velocity and delivery commitments.
- Evidence for: 1:1 cadence and engineer development.
- Evidence for: hiring and ramping of engineers.
- Evidence for: system reliability and incident management.
Areas for Growth
Forward-looking development edges. Frame as opportunities, not deficiencies. Specific behaviours to develop, not generic engineering manager criticism.
- One pattern observed across the period.
- One specific behaviour to develop.
- One concrete next step.
Goals for the Next Period
Two or three concrete goals. Each should name a specific behaviour change, a measurable target, and a deadline. Avoid vague aspirations.
Competencies to evaluate
The 7 competencies a strong engineering manager review structures around, in priority order. Use these as the spine of the Strengths and Areas for Growth sections.
- team velocity and delivery commitments
- 1:1 cadence and engineer development
- hiring and ramping of engineers
- system reliability and incident management
- tech-debt vs feature-delivery balance
- cross-functional partnership (PM, design, infra, exec)
- performance management (calibration, growth, PIPs)
Before you write
Engineering managers are accountable for team OUTCOMES (what shipped, how reliable it is) and team HEALTH (development, retention, hiring quality). The two are in constant tension — pushing harder for output can erode the team; investing too much in development can slip delivery. Strong EMs hold both simultaneously. Weak EMs optimise for one and let the other deteriorate.
Evidence to gather
Strong reviews for an engineering manager cite evidence of these shapes. Only use a specific value (a percentage, a count, a dollar amount) if you actually have it — don’t invent a number to sound concrete.
- OKR / commitment delivery rate
- service-level availability of owned services
- team retention rate
- internal-promotion count
- hiring quality (offer-accept rate, post-90-day retention)
- on-call health (page volume, post-mortem cadence)
- incident response time and resolution quality
Where to find the evidence
Work products an engineering manager produces. Reference these by name in the review when they’re relevant — it signals you know the work.
- 1:1 notes per direct report
- team OKRs and quarterly review
- promotion packets they wrote
- tech-debt audit / roadmap doc
- hiring scorecards and rubric calibration
- team retros and improvement actions
- post-mortems they led or substantively reviewed
Phrasing that lands vs phrasing that doesn’t
Strong — specific, evidenced, role-appropriate
“Delivered the OKR-committed Q3 platform migration on time, ran a clean 1:1 cadence with all eight reports, promoted one senior to staff via documented evidence, and held service availability at 99.92% through a major regional outage event.”
Weak — vague, unevidenced, generic
“Strong engineering leader.”
Phrases to never use
Stock filler that AI-written engineering manager reviews slip into. Managers spot it instantly. Rewrite to name a specific behaviour instead.
- “strong engineering leader”
- “great with people”
- “drives team to results”
- “trusted by engineers”
- “raises the bar”
- “consistent leader”
- “passionate about people”
- “inspirational manager”
- “wears many hats”
Don’t invent these specifics
The details an AI tends to fabricate for engineering managerreviews. If you don’t have the specific number, name, or date in your notes, leave it out — generic-but-honest beats specific-but- invented every time.
- specific OKR / commitment percentages not in input
- named direct reports beyond what was provided
- specific availability / SLO numbers not in input
- promotion or hiring counts not mentioned
- particular incidents led when not in input
- specific tech-debt initiatives not referenced
Skip the template, generate the review
Drop your bullet points into Crestento and it produces the polished draft using this exact template structure, tuned for an engineering manager. Two reviews free, no card.
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