Cracking the Director’s Code: The Hidden Playbook of Big Tech Leadership

I spoke to insiders at Meta, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft to uncover the exact criteria they look for at the Director+ level.

It’s worth knowing — because you can earn $450–600k more as director in big tech.

Here’s how to get a Director role and not M2 at big tech:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆-𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

Meta’s hiring bar for Directors is sky-high and it’s all about scope and scale.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀:

Meta looks for leaders who’ve worked on products with millions & billions of users and managed complex operations.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼:

→ Highlight experience managing multi-region teams and cross-functional collaborations.
→ Showcase products you’ve scaled from 0 to 1.
→ Prepare to tell data-driven stories about your team size, budgets, and impact metrics.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹-𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

At Google, technical expertise and cultural alignment are the golden keys to leadership roles.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀:

Google prizes leaders with deep technical know-how or academic credentials while ensuring they embody the company’s values (a.k.a. “Googleyness”).

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼:

→ Be ready to share examples of making complex technical decisions with limited information.
→ Highlight moments where you balanced user impact and business outcomes seamlessly.
→ Prepare examples that demonstrate your ability to build consensus across large teams.

𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

Having vision and strategy is fine but executing it with specific outcomes and owning the process will separate you from the rest.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀:

Amazon Directors must blend day-to-day operational rigor with high-level strategic thinking.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼:

→ Talk about how you’ve set and managed detailed operational metrics to track success.
→ Share examples of making tough calls with incomplete data.
→ Highlight your experience managing vendor and partnership relationships.

𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁

At Microsoft, deep domain expertise takes precedence over raw management skills.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀:

Microsoft wants leaders who can walk into a room of enterprise clients and command respect through their knowledge.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼:

→ Demonstrate deep knowledge of your industry.
→ Show how you’ve successfully navigated enterprise challenges.
→ Highlight examples where your expertise made a tangible impact on client relationships or strategy.

If you want to dive deeper into what it takes to land director + roles at big companies with exact strategies, check out the breakdown here.