# A switchback career move from engineering management to software engineering

DevFeed: [A switchback career move from engineering management to software engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/take-that-demotion-32328.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://newsletter.manager.dev/newsletter/take-that-demotion>)

Author: Anton Zaides

Published: 2026-09-08T06:01:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Manager.dev](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/manager-dev.md>)

Topics: [Job](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/job.md>), [AI-assisted coding](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-assisted-coding.md>), [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>), [Tech Lead](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tech-lead.md>)

Tags: [agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agents.md>), [career](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/career.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [engineering-manager](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering-manager.md>), [experiment](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/experiment.md>), [software-engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineer.md>)

## AI overview

The author describes moving from engineering management back to software engineering after struggling to secure another Engineering Manager role. The article also discusses an experiment in which an engineering team worked more deliberately with coding agents and a tech lead.

## Source excerpt

The perfect time for a switchback career move