Appendix E: The Performance & Leveling Rubric
In 2026, the question “Is this developer good?” can no longer be answered by looking at their lines of code or their speed in clearing Jira tickets. We must transition from measuring Output to measuring Context Curation and Verification Rigor.
This rubric provides managers with a framework for evaluating engineers across four new dimensions of AI-augmented performance.
1. Context Curation (Architecting)
How well does the engineer provide the “truth” to the machine?
- Junior (L1/L2): Can provide a specific file or function context to fix a local bug. Understands the immediate “what.”
- Senior (L3/L4): Architecting clean boundaries so the AI can work safely within a module without causing side effects. Can identify “Context Decay.”
- Principal (L5+): Designing the “Unified Context Plane”—the organizational knowledge graph that powers all autonomous agents.
2. Verification Rigor (The Immune System)
How skeptically do they treat AI output?
- Junior: Relies on AI-generated unit tests. Often accepts “Vibe” matches.
- Senior: Mandates 10:1 test-to-code ratios. Performs “Adversarial Prompting” to find failure modes.
- Principal: Designs the automated verification scaffolds (e.g., fuzzing, formal proofs) that govern the entire engineering output.
3. Toolchain Governance (Hygiene)
Do they manage their synthetic employees well?
- Junior: Uses approved tools, but struggles with “Prompt Debt” (doesn’t commit prompts).
- Senior: Treats Prompts as Source Code. Maintains a clean “Prompt Journal” for their team.
- Principal: Selects the vendor stack. Implements the “Prenup” architecture (model independence).
4. Manual Proficiency (The Safety Valve)
Can they code without the cloud?
- L1 - L5: Every engineer must maintain a “Manual Baseline.” Performance reviews should include a periodic “Manual Mode” evaluation to ensure that foundational skill atrophy hasn’t reached a critical level.
The “New Senior” KPI Checklist
| Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Test-to-Synthetic Ratio | Prevents “Vibe Coding” from entering production. |
| Architectural Purity | Ensures that AI agents aren’t “polluting” the core modules. |
| Prompt Reusability | Reduces “Prompt Debt” and context fragmentation. |
| Mentorship (Socratic) | Ability to use AI to train Juniors rather than just doing the work for them. |
“I don’t fire people who use AI. I fire people who trust it.” — Venkatesh