SolidProfessor · Platform Engineering team-topology / skills-validation-team / v1 · 2026-07-02
Complicated-Subsystem Team

Skills Validation Team

Owns the Skills Validation Engine so stream-aligned Pods don't have to. A deep specialist domain — competency modeling, scoring, and validation — built once and offered to the rest of the platform as a service.

Type: Complicated-Subsystem Default mode: X-as-a-Service Size: 3
01

The team

Full Team API →
Technical Product Manager
Sandra C
Owns product direction and the competency framework. Brings the outside in — SMEs and hiring managers.
Backend Engineer
Alex V
Did the founding research and set the early architecture; holds the deepest context on the engine core. Co-owns the engine.
Backend Engineer
Kenny C
Co-owns delivery of the MVP and beta, and the integration contract Pods build against. Co-owns the engine.
How we work together
Product & framework direction
Sandra, with the team's input.
Engine architecture & technical decisions
Alex and Kenny — together. Calls about the engine are made jointly, not routed through one person.
Founding context & early direction
Alex did the initial research and set the early architecture. That history is real and worth knowing — it's why he holds the deepest context on the core today.
From MVP through beta, Alex and Kenny co-own the engine as peers. This team is built so more than one person can own and change the core — that's what makes it a subsystem team rather than a one-person dependency.
02

Areas of accountability

Deep-dive & OKRs →

What this team owns

build & run · specialist domain

What this team does not own

boundaries reduce cognitive load
  • End-user product surfaces and journeys — owned by stream-aligned Pods.
  • Shared platform infrastructure — owned by Core Platform.
  • Hiring and assessment workflows themselves — the engine informs them, it doesn't run them.
03

How to work with us

Engagement guide →
X-as-a-Service
default

Consume the engine through the published API contract. No handoffs, no embedding a specialist in your Pod.

Collaboration
short bursts

Close, time-boxed work during first integration or onboarding a new pilot role — then back to service mode.

Facilitating
not our mode

We're a subsystem team, not an enabling team. We provide the capability; we don't coach Pods to build it themselves.

04

What we depend on

schedule risk
SME & hiring-manager availability

The framework can't be validated without domain experts' time. This is our primary external dependency.

integration
Contract alignment with consuming Pods

An agreed API schema with the first consuming Pod keeps the interface stable as we build behind it.

05

Interaction map

X-as-a-Service skills validation API
NowPod 3Talent Marketplace
Octagon = complicated-subsystem Rounded = stream-aligned Pod Triangle = X-as-a-Service