Why CTOs can’t find Tech Leads anymore

(and what it says about candidate quality)

This is something we often notice at mad: despite a flood of candidates proudly claiming “Tech Lead” on LinkedIn, genuine profiles truly capable of owning this role are rare.

And the CTOs we work with would say exactly the same.

---

“We’ve been searching for a Tech Lead for 6 months. We see highly skilled developers, sometimes brilliant… but not a single one ticks all the right boxes.”

You might think it’s a shortage. In reality, the talent pool exists. What’s missing are the key skills of the role — the ones you don’t find in a tech stack, but in behavior, attitude, and the ability to grow a team.

A Tech Lead isn’t just a “Senior ++.”

This is probably the most common mistake: thinking that after 6 or 7 years of development, you’re automatically ready to “step up as Lead.”

But this role can’t be improvised. It’s not earned by seniority. It’s taken on, worked for, and built.

Being a Tech Lead isn’t just about coding fast and well. It’s about making informed technical decisions within a specific product context. It’s knowing how to decide, explain, and prioritize—even when uncertainty is high. It’s supporting others without becoming a constant bottleneck.

And above all: it’s understanding that a team’s success isn’t linked to the individual level of its members, but to their ability to work together. The Tech Lead’s job is exactly to create that collective dynamic.

What candidates almost always forget

In 8 out of 10 recruitments, the candidates we meet have real technical strengths, sometimes even an impressive background. But when you dig a little deeper, you often find the same blind spots.

1. A too “stack-centric” vision

Many developers specialize in a specific stack and become excellent within that scope. But a Tech Lead must be able to step outside that comfort zone. They need to understand the big picture: architecture challenges, scalability, technical debt, and business constraints. And no, just knowing the basics of a tool or having skimmed its documentation one evening isn’t enough.

2. A glaring lack of “human” leadership

We too often forget that “lead” means leadership. And not just when it comes to technical decisions.

Can this candidate give constructive feedback? Have they ever helped a junior grow, or just silently fixed their code? Do they know how to say no to a PO… without blocking the entire sprint?

These skills aren’t taught in bootcamps. They require introspection, humility, and real experience. Yet they make all the difference between a “good dev” and a true Tech Lead.

3. A poor understanding of the role

Finally, many confuse a Tech Lead with a “lead dev,” or worse: an “architect with a bit of mentoring.” But this role is inherently transversal.

A good Tech Lead navigates between:

• product expectations,

• the team’s technical capabilities,

• current business constraints,

• and medium-term ambitions.

They are a balancing figure, an interface role—often under pressure, rarely recognized at its true value. And that’s exactly why it needs to be taken seriously and prepared for properly.

So, where’s the real problem?

If good Tech Leads are so rare, it’s because we don’t train them. Talented developers are pushed to “take on more responsibility,” sometimes overnight, without support, without coaching, without a safety net.

We confuse management with leadership. We prioritize execution over knowledge transfer. And on the client side, we end up with teams that move forward… but without a clear direction.

The result: CTOs search, dig, post job ads, follow up… and often end up lowering their standards.

At mad, we separate the wheat from the chaff — and prepare the ground.

When we recruit a Tech Lead, we don’t look for a cliché. We look for someone who can make an impact. And that means a demanding, tailor-made process:

• We challenge candidates with real-life scenarios (decision-making, team communication, balancing technical vs. product priorities).

• We dig into soft skills: listening, clarity, the ability to set boundaries without rigidity.

• We also warn clients when the context is unclear or expectations are unrealistic.

Because yes, a good Tech Lead won’t perform miracles in a fuzzy organization. And a bad Tech Lead can hold back an entire team.

In short...

The market isn’t short of developers. It’s short of developers ready to become technical leaders. Not just experts. But mentors. Connectors. People who know how to code and how to grow a team.

At mad, that’s exactly what we identify. And that’s what we help emerge.

Even if it takes time, patience, and sometimes, saying things that sting a little.