The Hidden Cost of Underutilization

The Problem: A high-performing Senior Software Engineer was misaligned in a role that only required associate-level scripting, leading to disengagement and a high risk of losing top talent at the Broad Institute.
The Solution: Active career advocacy and cross-departmental networking to transition the engineer into a role that matched her skill set and mission-driven interests, while managing the delicate “exit” from her current lab without burning bridges.
The Takeaway: Leadership isn’t just about managing the team you have; it’s about being a steward for the talent the organization needs — even if that means helping them move to a different team.

I’ve come to believe that the most expensive thing a company can do is hire a brilliant person and give them boring work. One of my recent mentees was a prime example: she was hired as a Senior Software Engineer — a true full-stack talent — but was stuck in a group that really just needed an associate to run existing workflows and write a few scripts. She was bored, underutilized, and in serious danger of leaving the institute entirely. She loved the mission-driven work, but she was starving for a challenge, and her career was headed toward stagnation.

After discussion with her about her career aspirations and continued desire to work for an organization that closely aligned with her internal compass, I took on the role of internal talent scout. I knew her values exceeded her current set of tasks, so I reached out to other managers and teams across the institute to find a role where her full-stack skills could thrive. This wasn’t just about finding her a new job; it was about navigating the human complexity of an internal move. I helped her prepare for the interviews and, more importantly, coached her through the tricky conversation with her current manager so she could make the transition with grace.

By treating her career as a long-term investment rather than a short-term resource, we kept a high-level engineer at the institute who otherwise would have been a “regrettable churn” statistic. We didn’t just fill an open req; we protected the institute’s most valuable asset - to quote Todd Golub - its people.