Your question is Multi-Brand Engineering Goal Strategy. Take a moment with it on the right.
Talk me through your thinking if you like. When you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen (7/10 or better passes).
You are the engineering manager for a digital platform group inside a global brand licensing company that supports 18 consumer brands across ecommerce, content, CRM, and shared platform services. The group has 42 engineers split across storefront, platform, data, and marketing technology, and last year delivered 61 roadmap items, but only 54% were tied to measurable business outcomes. Leadership wants one goal-setting approach for the next planning cycle because some brands are growing quickly while others are mature cash generators: the top 5 brands drive 72% of digital revenue, average ecommerce conversion ranges from 1.4% to 3.1% by brand, and engineering capacity is currently allocated 50% to brand-specific work, 30% to shared platform, and 20% to reliability and technical debt. Commercial leaders are pushing for more custom work for their brands, while the CTO wants more standardization through shared services such as the company’s ecommerce stack, CRM integrations, and analytics layer.
How would you set goals for the engineering team so they support portfolio growth across multiple brands while still creating accountability, focus, and efficient use of shared engineering capacity? What would you recommend leadership adopt for the next 12 months?