Leveling framework

What's on this page

• IC track L3–L8 (and Distinguished where used)
• Manager track M1–M3, Director, VP
• Promotion signals and anti-patterns
• Mapping to role codes and cyborg personas

What this enables

• Fair, portable career conversations across functions
• Headcount planning without inventing infinite titles

Dual track

flowchart LR
  L3[L3] --> L4[L4] --> L5[L5] --> L6[L6 Staff] --> L7[L7 Principal] --> L8[L8 Distinguished]
  L5 --> M1[M1 Manager]
  M1 --> M2[M2 Senior Manager]
  M2 --> M3[M3 Director-track]
  M3 --> DIR[Director]
  DIR --> VP[VP]

Band	Scope of impact
L3	Team tasks with guidance
L4	Independent ownership of projects
L5	Complex multi-quarter work; mentors others
L6 Staff	Cross-team technical/product leadership
L7 Principal	Org-level direction in a domain
L8 Distinguished	Company-defining technical or domain leadership
M1–M3	People leadership depth
Director / VP	Org design, multi-team outcomes, exec partnership

Principles

1. Levels are about scope and impact, not years of experience alone.
2. Manager and IC tracks are peer tracks — switching is a transfer, not a demotion.
3. Not every L×track pair is a separate job page — use this framework plus exemplar roles (Staff, Principal) and specialized titles.
4. Cyborgs may represent a role archetype at a default band; level is adjusted in deployment metadata when needed.

Promotion packets (minimum)

• Outcomes and evidence (not activity lists)
• Scope expansion examples
• Collaboration and culture signals
• Calibration notes from skip-level or committee