06 Scaling Operations
Role Redesign
During Growth
Growth changes what good roles look like.
The role evolution system
Growth
Organisation changes faster than roles
Changing need
Role no longer fits the business
Role redesign
Honest conversation and structural change
Clarity
People and roles aligned again
Role redesign is not a performance management tool. It's an organisational design discipline — applied when the business evolves past the roles it created.
Why this matters
Roles silently stop fitting the business — and nobody says so.
When a company grows, the work changes. The engineering lead who was excellent at building the first product version may not be the right person to manage a 20-person team. The head of sales who opened the first accounts may not have the skills to build a sales organisation. The operations generalist who held everything together at 15 people may be overwhelmed at 50.
These are not failures of the people. They are failures of the roles to evolve with the business. Roles defined for one stage of the company quietly become mismatched to the next — and the mismatch produces friction, underperformance, and eventually expensive exits that could have been avoided.
Role redesign is the discipline of keeping the organisational structure aligned with what the business currently needs. It requires honesty, care, and the willingness to have difficult conversations — but it consistently produces better outcomes than waiting for the mismatch to become a crisis.
Founder reality
Identify roles that may need redesign before the next growth phase:
Are there people in roles that were designed for a smaller or simpler version of the organisation?
Are there roles with responsibilities so broad that nobody could be excellent across all of them?
Have any roles accumulated over time without being explicitly designed — through additions without subtractions?
Is there a person in a role who is working very hard but producing less than expected — and whose problem might be the role rather than the person?
When did we last explicitly review whether our organisational structure still matches what the business needs?
The goal of role redesign is alignment, not downsizing. Most role redesign conversations end with the person in a better, clearer role — not without a role.
The framework
Four stages of role redesign during growth
The sequence matters. Diagnosis before conversation. Conversation before structure change.
01
Diagnosis — identify which roles have outgrown their current design
Map the role as it currently exists: what is the person responsible for, what decisions do they make, what outcomes are they measured on. Then map what the business currently needs from this position. Where these diverge — in scope, depth, skill requirement, or ownership — the role needs redesign.
02
Redesign — define what the role should be at the current stage
Design the role from the business need, not from the current person's profile. What does the company need this position to accomplish in the next 12 months? What capabilities does that require? What authority and ownership does the role need? The redesigned role is the target — then assess fit.
03
Conversation — discuss the redesign honestly with the person in the role
The redesign conversation is not a performance review. It's an organisational design discussion. 'The business has evolved and the role needs to evolve with it. Here's how we're thinking about it. Here's where we see your strengths fitting. Here's what we need to figure out together.' Honesty and care are not in tension here — both are required.
04
Transition — manage the structural change and the people change simultaneously
Role redesign almost always involves someone gaining clarity and sometimes involves someone losing scope. The transition must be managed on both dimensions: the structural change (new role design, ownership map, accountability framework) and the people change (supporting the person through a transition that may be uncomfortable even if it's right).
Common mistakes
01
Treating role redesign as a last resort before firing
When role redesign only happens after performance management has begun, it's too late for the conversation to be collaborative. Early, proactive redesign produces better outcomes for the person and the organisation.
02
Redesigning the role without involving the person
Role redesign that happens to people rather than with them is a different kind of conversation. People who are involved in designing their evolving role are more likely to commit to the transition — and more likely to surface important context the leadership doesn't have.
03
Adding scope without removing scope
Growing companies add new responsibilities to existing roles without removing old ones. Over time this produces roles that are impossibly broad. Role redesign requires subtraction as well as addition.
04
Assuming people can't adapt
Some people in roles that no longer fit are capable of growing into a redesigned version. Assess honestly before concluding that a redesign requires a change in person. The cost of losing an institutional knowledge carrier is often underestimated.
Example scenario
A Series A deep-tech company, 40 people. Engineering manager had been in role since 12 people. Team had grown from 4 to 14 engineers. Manager was struggling — strong technically, overwhelmed managerially. Attrition in the team was rising.
The diagnosis
Role mapped: engineering manager responsible for technical architecture, team management (14 direct reports), product planning, hiring, and customer technical escalations. The role had been defined at 4 people and never redesigned. No single person could be excellent across all five areas at 14 people.
The redesign conversation
Conversation with the manager: 'The role you're in was designed for a team of 4. The team is now 14. We think the role needs to split — and we want to design this with you.' Manager's preference: technical architecture and senior individual contribution. Management responsibility: transitioned to a newly created engineering lead role.
The outcome
Manager transitioned to Principal Engineer role — no management responsibilities. Hired an Engineering Manager externally. Manager described the change as 'finally doing the work I'm best at'. Team attrition stopped. Engineering velocity improved within 8 weeks.
Takeaway
Roles that aren't redesigned during growth become structural liabilities.
Diagnose early, design for the current stage, have the conversation honestly and with care. Role redesign done well produces better outcomes for the person and the organisation — simultaneously.
Continue reading
The Clarity Problem