Brag Doc Template
Principal Engineer Brag Doc
A brag doc for a Principal Engineer is the record of company-scale technical bets you owned, the multi-org work that compounded beyond your immediate area, technical-strategy memos that shaped how the engineering org thought, and the engineers (at all levels) whose growth you accelerated. At Principal, the unit of work is the company. The template below captures that.
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Principal Engineer Brag Doc
What to include
Principal calibration is about company-scale leverage: technical strategy across multiple orgs, architectural bets that hold for years, mentorship that produces other senior engineers, and writing that becomes the foundation other teams build on. Quantify where you can but expect the strongest evidence to be named artifacts (memos, RFCs, architectural decisions) and named engineers whose trajectories you shaped.
Personalize
Optional · Appears in downloadThe template
Company-Scale Technical Bets
Architecture and strategy decisions at the org or company level.
- ·What 1-2 architectural bets did you place this period that span multiple orgs?
- ·What technical-strategy memo did you author that became the foundation for other teams?
- ·What did you simplify, deprecate, or replace that the company has been grateful for since?
- (no entries)
Multi-Org Leverage
Work that compounded beyond your immediate area.
- ·Which orgs outside your immediate area benefited from work you led this period?
- ·What cross-org standard or platform decision did you push for that got adopted?
- ·What organizational complexity did you absorb so other engineers did not have to?
- (no entries)
Engineers Leveled at Scale
Senior engineers whose growth you shaped.
- ·Name 2-3 engineers whose growth you materially shaped this period (specifically at the senior, staff, or principal track).
- ·What design review or technical-strategy review did you give that changed an engineer's trajectory?
- ·What technical-mentorship pattern did you build that the org now uses?
- (no entries)
Durable Technical Influence
Decisions that outlived the project they were made for.
- ·What pattern, doc, or convention you authored is still in use 12+ months later?
- ·What did you say no to at the architectural level that the company has been grateful for since?
- ·What technical culture shift did you push for that the org has internalized?
- (no entries)
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Generated via Bloomly, a career journal for iPhone. Bloomly writes this document for you from your daily entries; the template is the manual version. Bloomlyjournal.cc
Weak vs. Strong bullets
The format does the easy part. The bullets carry the weight. A few examples to set the bar.
Weak
Drove technical strategy.
Strong
Authored the 22-page technical-strategy memo that committed the company to a single primary data store (Postgres + read replicas) and the deprecation of 4 ad-hoc data services. Multi-org alignment took 14 weeks; deprecations shipped across H2. The memo is now referenced as 'rules of the road for data services' in every new-team onboarding.
Weak
Mentored senior engineers.
Strong
Three engineers leveled at the senior+ band with my direct contribution. Marcus L5 to L6: I co-authored his promotion case and gave him the migration lead on the data-store consolidation. Diana L6 to L7: I made the case for a platform-architecture role at her level with the CTO; she shipped 4 cross-org patterns in her first 2 quarters. James L7 to L8 (Principal): I wrote his promotion memo with the VP Eng and his lead architectural decision (the deprecation framework) is now the company's canonical doc on that pattern.
Weak
Said no to bad architecture.
Strong
Killed the proposed 'rebuild ML infrastructure in-house' direction in Q1 ($3M proposed spend, 4 engineers blocked for a quarter). Wrote a 4-page buy-vs-build memo making the case for managed-platform pick (SageMaker + Modal). CTO reversed; we shipped the equivalent capability in 6 weeks instead of 6 months. Saved 1.5 staff-engineer-quarters of opportunity cost.
Manual template vs. Bloomly generated report
Manual brag doc
- Works when you already remember the right examples.
- Requires manual sorting, rewriting, and evidence cleanup.
- Best for a one-time draft or printable structure.
Bloomly generated report
- Starts from the work you captured when it happened.
- Organizes entries by goals, skills, impact, and review period.
- Turns daily evidence into shareable summaries and PDF reports.
You don't fill out a Bloomly report. Bloomly writes it.
The template above is the manual version. Bloomly is the generated version. Thirty seconds when something good happens (speak it or type it) and at review time the entire document is in your share sheet. Same shape as the template. Your numbers, your names, your dates. Already written.
Get Bloomly for iPhoneFree to start · iPhone · iOS 17+
Build the evidence before you need the template
Templates help with format. A career journal helps with memory. Use these pages together: learn the structure, generate a quick outline, then keep the source material current in Bloomly.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this as a Principal Engineer brag doc app replacement?▾
You can use the template manually, but it will only stay useful if you update it consistently. Bloomly is the app version: capture wins daily, then generate reports when you need them.
What should a brag doc include?▾
A strong brag doc includes dated wins, measurable impact, collaborators, skills, feedback, decisions, evidence links, and review-category alignment.
Is Bloomly a brag doc app?▾
Yes. Bloomly is a brag doc app and career journal that keeps the source material current, then turns entries into performance reports, recaps, and reusable career stories.