Scaling to 100+ as a Director: Lessons From Growing Engineering Organizations

"I'm really excited to show you guys the journey for me to get to an engineering org that's over 100 people. I'm going to be, of course, talking about the ups and downs, and also about some lessons that I learned along the way. I'm Thiago Ghisi. I'm an engineering director at Nubank. Before Nubank, I worked at Apple and American Express, and then even Thoughtworks."

"Before I go to my org size growth, there is a whole lot that comes before I actually get into people management. This is like all the ups and downs. I think Sophie was talking about the squiggly career and what is called the Tarzan Method. Like, you try to swing about the opportunities that come your way. I think this is my trajectory. I have done everything from sales engineering to project management."

Career trajectory spanned sales engineering, project management, engineering management, and leadership roles at major technology and financial firms. Management responsibilities evolved from individual contributor coaching to managing multiple engineering managers, contractors, and technical program managers across distributed teams. Organizational size grew from roughly thirty people in 2019 to over one hundred, with notable expansion during 2020 and additional scale through 2021 and later years. Pandemic-era changes and a deliberate scope reduction during a transition from fintech to large tech influenced role focus, team composition, and burnout considerations. Practical lessons covered hiring, delegation, manager layers, and sustaining culture during rapid growth.

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