Recently promoted to L4 at SV company, solid pay for about 2YOE (280k). I am the primary owner for a fairly important service, and took on a lot of responsibility after reorgs and attrition. Currently the most junior on the team in experience, but have the strongest domain knowledge among mid-levels. Clearly I have a long ways to go, but so far I have a reputation for strong execution and good product knowledge (at least for a newer mid-level). I am working on becoming a delegator and planner in my current scope.

I find that I have a poor relationship with my manager. He doesn’t advocate for me (or support me at all tbh), and word on the street is that he was finally pressured to promote me after pushing it off for two cycles. I find that I get unhelpful feedback in terms of improving as an engineer. I respect my manager’s technical ability, but we don’t mesh very well. I’m also probably pretty low on the list for the more interesting projects.

Separately, I’m also losing faith in the company’s future. Quality of work (localized and company-wide) has gone down, and it feels like we’re floundering and wasting resources.

I feel stuck, even though I just got promoted. It feels overdue, which makes the next one seem absolutely impossible. Am I not establishing boundaries at work? Do I have unrealistic expectations? Is leaving the company the best path forward here?