Lead Developer Responsibilities

The Lead Developer ensures that Neon delivers consistent, maintainable, high-quality work without reliance on any single individual.

The role is not to micromanage or rewrite code—it is to safeguard direction and standards.

Technical Oversight

Reviews PRs for implementation correctness and consistency
Ensures code aligns with Neon conventions and patterns
Flags architectural decisions that need Glenn's involvement
Manages technical debt and recommends refactors when justified

Quality Stewardship

Acts as the first line of defence before QA
Ensures validation, error handling, and UX basics are not overlooked
Uses the QA Checklist and Definition of Done as enforcement tools

Communication & Context

Clarifies requirements with project leads before coding begins
Translates acceptance criteria into technical tasks
Escalates ambiguity early—not at review time

Process & Delivery

Prioritises tasks with the team
Unblocks developers without waiting for Glenn
Ensures work flows smoothly from Dev → Review → QA → Deploy

Mentorship

Guides other developers through patterns and decisions
Encourages consistency rather than personal preference
Builds team capability so fewer decisions rely on Glenn

Escalation Thresholds

The Lead Developer must involve Glenn when:

Data models or domain concepts change
Work redefines a core workflow
A design choice materially affects UX or commercial outcomes

Success Criteria

A Lead Dev is succeeding when:

Developers ship work that meets Neon standards without Glenn being a bottleneck.

If Glenn only reviews strategic changes—not everyday tasks—the system is working.