The Grumpy Manager
Engineering leadership without the toxic positivity. Twenty-plus years inside Big Tech, candidly — the parts of the job they don't put in onboarding decks.
Executive coach for engineers and engineering managers. Independent, by appointment.

After thirty-plus years leading engineering teams at Google and IBM, I now work full-time as an executive coach and mentor — helping technical professionals accelerate their careers. My background spans internationalization, education technology, and AI-driven productivity.
Since leaving Google in October 2025, I have dedicated myself exclusively to coaching engineers and managers through career transitions, interview preparation, and the leadership challenges that don't appear in any textbook. Approach: deep technical understanding paired with strategies that have actually worked — for me and for the people I have led across Mountain View, New York, Zürich, Berlin, and Mexico City.
| 2025-10 → |
Independent · Executive Coach & Leadership Consultant.
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| 2024 – 2025-10 |
Google · Sr. Engineering Manager, Education & AI Activation.
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| 2017 – 2024 |
Google · Sr. Engineering Manager, engEDU Platforms.
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| 2013 – 2017 |
Google · Sr. Engineering Manager, i18n & Localization Infrastructure.
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| 2007 – 2013 |
Google · Engineering Manager, Internationalization.
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| 2006 – 2007 |
Google · Sr. Software Engineer.
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| 1999 – 2006 |
IBM · Sr. Software Engineer, ICU4C / ICU4J.
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| ICU | Unicode and internationalization library powering Chrome, Android, Java, and most of the modern web. icu.unicode.org |
| libphonenumber | Phone-number parsing and validation used across Google products and the broader ecosystem. |
| Grasshopper | Mobile app for learning JavaScript. Reached millions of learners on iOS and Android. |
| Primer | Mobile-first business-skills education platform. |
| CS First | Computer-science curriculum for K–12; large global footprint. |
| ELMS | Scalable LMS/CMS infrastructure powering CS First and Applied Digital Skills. |
Twenty years of building things that teach things; the coaching practice is the same instinct, applied one person at a time. Three lenses on the same work:
| Learning at scale | Led the teams behind Grasshopper, Primer, and CS First. Built scalable infrastructure reaching millions of learners globally — from coding to business skills. |
| Technical pedagogy | Directed the engineering of Google's internal and external education platforms (engEDU). Focus on making complex technical concepts intuitive and accessible at every level. |
| Legacy of growth | Thousands of hours mentoring engineering leaders inside Google. Designed growth frameworks rather than giving ad-hoc advice — the same approach the coaching practice now runs on. |
Three lanes, in order of demand:
| lane | for | format |
|---|---|---|
| Interview preparation | Eng & Mgr roles at top tech | Mock interviews, resume review, negotiation |
| Career strategy | IC-to-manager, promo, pivots | Roadmap, readiness, narrative |
| Leadership development | New & senior managers | Difficult conversations, team culture, burnout |
“Engineering leadership without the toxic positivity.”
— from The Grumpy Manager, the blog
| 30+ | Years in industry · Google + IBM + Independent |
| 40+ | Engineers led, across four continents |
| 18+ | Years interviewing and calibrating at Google |
| 3 | Education products shipped: Grasshopper, Primer, CS First |
| 5 | Cities I have built or led teams in: Mountain View, NYC, Zürich, Berlin, CDMX |
Domains and tools the practice draws on.
Two blogs, both free, both ongoing.
Engineering leadership without the toxic positivity. Twenty-plus years inside Big Tech, candidly — the parts of the job they don't put in onboarding decks.
Notes on emerging tech from someone who has been in the room before. Less doom, less hype, more pattern matching.
Two formats. Pay first, schedule immediately. Stripe.
Also available via IGotAnOffer.
For booking, use the CLI block above. For everything else: