did this at the end of 2024. was an eng manager at a big tech company for four years, decided i missed building and hated performance reviews, went back to IC. here's what nobody tells you.
the leveling conversation is weird. companies don't have a clean map from 'manager with N reports' to 'IC level X.' some will try to level you like a new hire. some will see the IC foundation underneath and give you credit. i ended up as a staff eng at the new company after being a manager of 8 at the old one, which is about right. but i had to make the case for it explicitly and say something like 'here's the scope of technical decisions i was still making, here's the systems i architected before and during management.' if you've been fully out of the technical loop for 3+ years this is harder.
the technical screen is the hard part. i hadn't done a leetcode-style interview in years. i had to actually prep. not a humble 'oh i should brush up,' i mean six weeks of consistent prep for algorithms and system design. the system design part i felt decent on. algorithms were rough. i passed most screens but there were a couple where i clearly underwhelmed. be honest with yourself about the gap.
the comp math. as a manager you likely had a TC that included mgmt premium plus possibly a FAANG base. IC comp can be comparable or higher if you're going staff/principal, but the premium is in equity not in base. i ended up with slightly higher TC on paper but more volatile because of RSU structure differences. model it out, don't just compare base.
one thing that went well: behavioral interviews were easy. four years of managing gives you so many stories about cross-functional influence, ambiguity, scope definition. the 'tell me about a time you drove alignment without authority' question is a gift to any manager-to-IC candidate.
happy to answer specific questions about this transition if helpful.