Engineering org chart by stage
Enter your headcount now and in 12 months, how many products you run, whether you are regulated and what you want your own role to be. You get a suggested org chart, how many managers you need and the next two leadership hires. No signup, nothing stored.
By the CTO Coach Team · Last updated 2026-10-11 · Open a prefilled example
Stage 3 of 6 · 11 to 20 engineers
First managers
Beyond about 10 engineers, add at least one manager to set priorities, balance workloads and run basic process (Bessemer Atlas guidance). The CTO moves from doing to enabling.
Bessemer Atlas guidance
Suggested structure for 14 engineers
CTO(Executive)
2 direct reports
Runs engineering directly through the managers.
Bessemer Atlas guidance
Engineering managersx 2(Manager)
7 direct reports each
Each leads one team.
Bessemer Atlas guidance
Engineersx 14(Individual contributors)
About 7 to 7 per team.
Rule of thumb
Spans of control (5 to 8 direct reports per manager) and the headcounts for directors, a VP at scale and security roles are rules of thumb, not research findings. The three Bessemer Atlas points are labelled.
People managers needed
| Role | Today (14) | 12 months (24) |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering managers | 2 | 3 |
| Directors of engineering | 0 | 0 |
| VP Engineering | 0 | 0 |
| Total people managers | 2 | 3 |
The CTO is not counted. The chart assumes managers are in place at each size; if yours differ, the gap is your first hire.
Hire next
1. Additional engineering manager
Needed within 12 months, from 17 engineers
Beyond about 10 engineers, add at least one manager (Bessemer Atlas). The number of managers needed after that follows the 5 to 8 span-of-control rule of thumb.
Bessemer Atlas guidance
2. Security lead
Next breakpoint, from 41 engineers
Rule of thumb: a dedicated security lead becomes worth hiring around 40 engineers when you are not in a regulated industry.
Rule of thumb
The breakpoints behind the rules
- More than 10 engineers. Add at least one manager to set priorities, balance workloads and put basic process in place. Bessemer Atlas guidance
- About 20 engineers. Decide whether the current CTO can scale the organisation or a VP or SVP is needed. Bessemer Atlas guidance
- Regulated industry. Put security in place from day one: a named owner first, then a dedicated lead. Bessemer Atlas guidance
- 41 engineers. Rule of thumb: a VP Engineering runs the organisation and the CTO keeps strategy, architecture and the board. Rule of thumb
- 65 engineers. Rule of thumb: once there would be more than 8 engineering managers under one leader, add directors. Rule of thumb
- 81 engineers. Rule of thumb: expect two layers of management below the VP and more than one senior individual-contributor path. Rule of thumb
How to use the chart
Treat the chart as a conversation starter, not a target. Compare it with the org you have: the difference between the two is your hiring and promotion agenda for the year. Switch to the 12-month view to see which roles you will need to start hiring for now, since a manager hired from outside often takes a quarter to find and a quarter to settle.
Counts treat engineers as individual contributors and managers as extra. If your own headcount includes managers, subtract them before you enter it.
The breakpoints
Three points come from Bessemer Venture Partners' guidance on scaling an engineering team. The rest are practitioner rules of thumb and are labelled as such.
- More than 10 engineers. Add at least one manager to set priorities, balance workloads and put basic process in place. (Bessemer Atlas guidance)
- About 20 engineers. Decide whether the current CTO can scale the organisation or a VP or SVP is needed. (Bessemer Atlas guidance)
- Regulated industry. Put security in place from day one: a named owner first, then a dedicated lead. (Bessemer Atlas guidance)
- 41 engineers. Rule of thumb: a VP Engineering runs the organisation and the CTO keeps strategy, architecture and the board. (Rule of thumb)
- 65 engineers. Rule of thumb: once there would be more than 8 engineering managers under one leader, add directors. (Rule of thumb)
- 81 engineers. Rule of thumb: expect two layers of management below the VP and more than one senior individual-contributor path. (Rule of thumb)
| Stage | Engineers | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Founding team | 1 to 5 | Rule of thumb |
| Hands-on leader | 6 to 10 | Bessemer Atlas guidance |
| First managers | 11 to 20 | Bessemer Atlas guidance |
| The scale decision | 21 to 40 | Bessemer Atlas guidance |
| Multi-team organisation | 41 to 80 | Rule of thumb |
| Organisation of organisations | 81 to 150 | Rule of thumb |
Span of control (a rule of thumb)
The tool targets 5 to 8 direct reports per manager, and adds a layer when one leader would otherwise carry more than 8 managers. This is a practitioner heuristic with no source behind the exact numbers. Narrow it when managers still write code or lead junior teams, widen it for senior teams with stable work. What matters is that no manager is too stretched to hold regular one-to-ones.
CTO or VP Engineering?
Your answer to the last question changes the chart: choosing to stay technical brings a VP and a senior architect in at 21 engineers. Choosing to run the organisation delays the VP to 41. For how the two roles split work, read CTO vs VP Engineering, and for the wider playbook see scaling your engineering org. If you are presenting a new structure to your board, pair it with the board update template.
Frequently asked questions
When should a startup hire its first engineering manager?
Bessemer Venture Partners' guidance for scaling engineering is that a leader stays hands-on and engineers report to the CTO up to about 10 engineers, and that beyond 10 you should add at least one manager. In practice the signal arrives earlier than the number: the CTO is the bottleneck on priorities, one-to-ones are slipping and nobody is looking after onboarding.
How many engineers should report to one manager?
A common rule of thumb is 5 to 8 direct reports per engineering manager. It is a practitioner heuristic, not a research finding: a manager who also writes code, or who leads a team of mostly junior engineers, needs a smaller span, and a team of very senior engineers can run wider. This tool uses 8 as the upper limit when it counts managers.
At what size does a CTO need a VP of Engineering?
Bessemer's guidance puts the decision at about 20 engineers: decide whether the current CTO can scale the organisation or a VP or SVP is needed. This tool suggests a VP from 21 engineers if you want to stay technical, and from 41 if you prefer to run the organisation. The second number is a rule of thumb, not a sourced figure. For the role differences, read CTO vs VP Engineering.
Does a regulated industry change the org chart?
Yes, mainly through security. Bessemer's guidance is that highly regulated companies should have security in place from day one. The tool shows the CTO as the named security owner up to 10 engineers and adds a dedicated security lead from 11 engineers. The headcount for the dedicated lead is a rule of thumb.
Are these numbers a benchmark I can show my board?
No. They are a starting structure built from three sourced Bessemer points and a set of rules of thumb, each labelled on the page. Use them to start a conversation, then adjust for your product, your engineers' seniority and the managers you already have. A board will be more persuaded by your reasoning than by a headcount table.
Sources
- Scaling your engineering team from one to 50 and beyond Bessemer Venture Partners Atlas, Current
How we source and check figures: Methodology.