When you’ve been a Director and you want a Senior IC role, the résumé alone won’t carry the message. You have to name the intent plus reframe the silhouette. Both moves matter.
Step 1 — Name the intent in the summary
A two-line summary at the top, in plain English:
“Senior PM stepping back into hands-on IC work after leading 12-person Growth org for 3 years. Want to ship code/SQL again, not direct meetings.”
This won’t survive a 6-second scan alone — but for the resumes that pass the silhouette check, the summary is what removes the recruiter’s “is this person serious?” doubt.
Step 2 — Reframe titles and scope
The full method covers this. Short version: retitle the most recent role, compress to 2–3 bullets, expand the prior IC role.
Step 3 — Over-index on execution
Even if your last role had real execution work, the bullets probably describe it strategically. Rewrite 4–5 bullets to lead with execution verbs. Method here.
Run the diagnostic to verify
Run a diagnostic — the seniority indicator should be Warn or Good, not Risk. If it’s still Risk, the silhouette didn’t shift far enough.