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+# Career Ladders for Infrastructure Engineers
+
+**Comprehensive career progression frameworks for individual contributors and managers.**
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+**Career ladders provide:**
+- Clear expectations at each level
+- Transparent path to promotion
+- Fair and consistent evaluation
+- Motivation and retention
+
+**Two tracks:**
+1. **Individual Contributor (IC):** L3 → L4 → L5 → L6 → L7+
+2. **Manager (M):** M3 → M4 → M5 → M6+
+
+**Key principle:** IC and Manager tracks are **parallel and equal** - neither is "better" or "higher"
+
+---
+
+## Individual Contributor (IC) Track
+
+### L3: Junior Engineer (0-2 years experience)
+
+**Scope:** Executes well-defined tasks with guidance
+
+**Technical Skills:**
+- Learning fundamentals of domain (cloud, K8s, CI/CD, etc.)
+- Can implement solutions following team patterns
+- Asks good questions and seeks help appropriately
+- Basic troubleshooting and debugging skills
+
+**Impact:**
+- Completes assigned tasks on time
+- Minimal re-work needed on code reviews
+- Contributes to team velocity
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Actively participates in team meetings
+- Responsive to code review feedback
+- Documents work clearly
+- Seeks mentorship and feedback
+
+**Typical Projects:**
+- Implement feature using existing patterns
+- Fix bugs in well-understood systems
+- Write tests and documentation
+- Participate in on-call (shadowing)
+
+**Promotion to L4:**
+- 12-18 months at L3 (depending on growth)
+- Consistently delivers tasks independently
+- Shows readiness for bigger scope
+
+---
+
+### L4: Engineer (2-5 years experience)
+
+**Scope:** Owns small-to-medium projects independently
+
+**Technical Skills:**
+- Proficient in core technologies of domain
+- Can design and implement solutions with minimal guidance
+- Understands trade-offs and makes reasonable technical decisions
+- Effective at debugging complex issues
+
+**Impact:**
+- Owns projects end-to-end (design, implement, deploy, monitor)
+- Delivers high-quality work consistently
+- Reduces technical debt through refactoring
+- Participates in on-call rotation effectively
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Gives thoughtful code reviews
+- Mentors L3 engineers informally
+- Shares knowledge through documentation and demos
+- Collaborates across teams when needed
+
+**Typical Projects:**
+- Design and implement new CI/CD pipeline
+- Build self-service infrastructure provisioning
+- Lead observability implementation
+- Migrate service to new infrastructure
+
+**Promotion to L5:**
+- 2-3 years at L4
+- Consistently delivers complex projects
+- Shows technical leadership potential
+- Ready for broader scope and mentorship
+
+---
+
+### L5: Senior Engineer (5-8 years experience)
+
+**Scope:** Owns large, ambiguous projects; mentors engineers
+
+**Technical Skills:**
+- Expert in domain with broad knowledge across stack
+- Designs systems with scalability, reliability, and maintainability
+- Makes complex technical decisions with sound reasoning
+- Debugs and resolves production incidents quickly
+
+**Impact:**
+- Leads major initiatives that span multiple quarters
+- Significantly improves team productivity or reliability
+- Reduces on-call burden through automation and prevention
+- Influences technical direction of team
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Actively mentors L3/L4 engineers
+- Leads architecture discussions and design reviews
+- Writes detailed design docs and RFCs
+- Builds consensus across teams
+- Represents team in cross-functional forums
+
+**Typical Projects:**
+- Design and implement internal developer platform
+- Lead Kubernetes migration for 50+ services
+- Build observability platform from scratch
+- Design and implement disaster recovery strategy
+
+**Promotion to L6:**
+- 3-5 years at L5
+- Consistent track record of high-impact technical leadership
+- Recognized expert in domain
+- Operates at multi-team scope
+
+---
+
+### L6: Staff Engineer (8-12 years experience)
+
+**Scope:** Drives multi-team initiatives; sets technical direction
+
+**Technical Skills:**
+- Domain expert; deep and broad technical knowledge
+- Designs systems at org scale (hundreds of services)
+- Anticipates future needs and plans strategically
+- Debugs the most complex, ambiguous issues
+
+**Impact:**
+- Drives initiatives that span multiple teams/quarters
+- Defines technical strategy for domain (platform, SRE, security, etc.)
+- Unblocks teams through technical leadership
+- Improves engineering productivity across org
+- Reduces major risks and prevents outages
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Mentors L5 engineers and helps them grow to Staff
+- Leads org-wide architecture discussions
+- Influences engineering culture and best practices
+- Partners with senior management on technical strategy
+- Represents company at conferences or open-source communities
+
+**Typical Projects:**
+- Design and lead multi-region active-active migration
+- Build developer platform that enables 100+ engineers
+- Define and implement org-wide observability strategy
+- Lead technical due diligence for acquisition
+
+**Archetypes (different Staff eng paths):**
+- **Tech Lead:** Leads critical team/initiative
+- **Architect:** Designs org-wide systems and standards
+- **Solver:** Tackles the hardest, most ambiguous problems
+- **Right Hand:** Partners with eng leadership on technical strategy
+
+**Promotion to L7:**
+- 3-5+ years at L6
+- Organization-wide impact and recognition
+- Seen as THE expert in domain
+- Ready for industry-level influence
+
+---
+
+### L7+: Principal / Distinguished Engineer (12+ years)
+
+**Scope:** Drives technical vision for organization; industry expert
+
+**Technical Skills:**
+- Industry expert; recognized externally
+- Designs systems at scale (thousands of services, millions of users)
+- Creates new technologies or patterns adopted widely
+- Thinks 3-5 years ahead strategically
+
+**Impact:**
+- Drives technical strategy for entire organization
+- Defines the technical future of company
+- Influences engineering culture and hiring bar
+- Prevents major technical risks before they occur
+- Represents company as technical authority
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Mentors Staff+ engineers
+- Advises C-suite on technical strategy
+- Builds partnerships across industry
+- Speaks at major conferences, publishes papers
+- Open-source leadership or standards bodies
+
+**Typical Projects:**
+- Design next-generation platform architecture
+- Lead company-wide technical transformation
+- Define technical vision for 3-5 year roadmap
+- Build industry partnerships and thought leadership
+
+**Terminal level:** L7+ is terminal level for many engineers - continued growth through increasing impact, not levels
+
+---
+
+## Manager (M) Track
+
+### M3: Engineering Manager (5-8 years total, 0-2 years managing)
+
+**Scope:** Manages team of 5-8 engineers (typically L3-L5)
+
+**People Management:**
+- Conducts effective 1-on-1s and career conversations
+- Provides clear, actionable feedback
+- Handles performance issues proactively
+- Recruits and hires for team
+- Develops direct reports through coaching and stretch projects
+
+**Delivery:**
+- Owns team roadmap and quarterly planning
+- Removes blockers and provides context
+- Ensures team delivers predictably and sustainably
+- Balances feature work with tech debt and operations
+
+**Technical:**
+- Understands team's technical domain deeply
+- Can review designs and code effectively
+- Makes informed technical trade-off decisions
+- Stays current with team's tech stack
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Partners with product, design, and other teams
+- Represents team in planning and prioritization
+- Builds relationships across org
+- Communicates team progress and needs clearly
+
+**Typical Responsibilities:**
+- Manage 5-8 engineers
+- Deliver team OKRs quarterly
+- Hire 2-4 engineers per year
+- Handle performance and growth conversations
+- Participate in on-call escalations
+
+**Promotion to M4:**
+- 2-3 years at M3
+- Strong delivery track record
+- Team members growing and happy
+- Ready for broader scope
+
+---
+
+### M4: Senior Engineering Manager (8-12 years total, 2-5 years managing)
+
+**Scope:** Manages 8-12 engineers OR 2-3 teams
+
+**People Management:**
+- Develops other managers (if managing managers)
+- Builds high-performing teams through intentional culture
+- Handles complex people situations (performance, conflict, reorganizations)
+- Strategic recruiting and hiring (building team for future needs)
+- Creates career development programs for team
+
+**Delivery:**
+- Owns multi-quarter roadmaps across teams
+- Coordinates across departments (product, design, infra, security)
+- Balances short-term delivery with long-term investment
+- Drives process improvements across teams
+
+**Technical:**
+- Sets technical direction for teams
+- Reviews and approves major technical decisions
+- Ensures technical quality and consistency
+- Invests in technical debt strategically
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Influences department-level strategy and planning
+- Partners with senior leadership on priorities
+- Mentors other managers in org
+- Represents org in company forums
+
+**Typical Responsibilities:**
+- Manage 8-12 ICs or 2-3 managers
+- Deliver department-level OKRs
+- Hire and develop managers
+- Set technical standards across teams
+- Drive org-level initiatives
+
+**Promotion to M5:**
+- 3-5 years at M4
+- Consistent delivery at scale
+- Strong people development track record
+- Ready for org-level leadership
+
+---
+
+### M5: Director of Engineering (12+ years total, 5+ years managing)
+
+**Scope:** Manages 30-50 engineers across multiple teams
+
+**People Management:**
+- Builds manager bench through hiring and development
+- Creates org-level culture and values
+- Handles org-wide people programs (performance, promotions, compensation)
+- Strategic talent planning (skill gaps, succession, diversity)
+- Represents org in company-wide people initiatives
+
+**Delivery:**
+- Sets annual roadmap and OKRs for org
+- Allocates resources across teams and priorities
+- Drives cross-org initiatives and dependencies
+- Ensures org delivers predictably at scale
+
+**Technical:**
+- Sets technical vision and strategy for org
+- Reviews and approves major architectural decisions
+- Invests in technical infrastructure and platforms
+- Balances innovation with stability
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Partners with VP and C-level on company strategy
+- Represents engineering in executive forums
+- Builds partnerships across departments
+- Influences company-wide technical decisions
+
+**Typical Responsibilities:**
+- Manage 4-7 managers (30-50 total engineers)
+- Set org vision and annual plans
+- Budget ownership ($5M-$20M+)
+- Recruiting strategy for org
+- Represent org to company leadership
+
+**Promotion to M6:**
+- 3-5+ years at M5
+- Significant org-level impact
+- Strong leadership reputation
+- Ready for VP or C-level role
+
+---
+
+### M6+: VP Engineering / CTO
+
+**Scope:** Entire engineering organization (100-1000+ engineers)
+
+**People Management:**
+- Builds and leads engineering leadership team
+- Shapes company-wide engineering culture
+- Strategic talent acquisition and retention
+- Represents engineering at board level
+
+**Delivery:**
+- Sets multi-year technical strategy for company
+- Owns engineering productivity and efficiency
+- Drives major company-wide technical initiatives
+- Ensures engineering scales with company growth
+
+**Technical:**
+- Defines technical vision for company
+- Makes build-vs-buy and technology bets
+- Ensures engineering excellence and quality
+- Represents company as technical authority
+
+**Collaboration:**
+- Member of executive leadership team
+- Partners with CEO and board
+- Builds external partnerships and reputation
+- Influences industry and technical community
+
+---
+
+## Compensation Bands
+
+**Note:** These are rough guideline ranges for mid-market tech companies. Adjust for company size, location, and market conditions.
+
+### Individual Contributor
+
+| Level | Title | Base Salary | Total Comp (with equity) |
+|-------|-------|-------------|--------------------------|
+| L3 | Junior Engineer | $100K-$130K | $110K-$150K |
+| L4 | Engineer | $130K-$160K | $150K-$190K |
+| L5 | Senior Engineer | $160K-$200K | $190K-$250K |
+| L6 | Staff Engineer | $200K-$250K | $250K-$350K |
+| L7 | Principal Engineer | $250K-$300K | $350K-$500K |
+| L8 | Distinguished Engineer | $300K-$400K+ | $500K-$800K+ |
+
+### Manager Track
+
+| Level | Title | Base Salary | Total Comp (with equity) |
+|-------|-------|-------------|--------------------------|
+| M3 | Engineering Manager | $170K-$210K | $200K-$270K |
+| M4 | Senior EM | $210K-$260K | $260K-$350K |
+| M5 | Director | $250K-$320K | $320K-$450K |
+| M6 | VP Engineering | $300K-$400K+ | $450K-$700K+ |
+| M7 | SVP / CTO | $350K-$500K+ | $600K-$1M+ |
+
+**Regional multipliers:**
+- SF Bay Area: 1.2-1.3x
+- NYC/Seattle: 1.1-1.2x
+- Austin/Denver: 1.0-1.1x
+- Remote (US): 0.9-1.0x (location-based)
+
+---
+
+## Promotion Criteria
+
+### General Principles
+
+**What promotion means:**
+- Already operating at next level for 6+ months
+- Consistent performance, not one-off projects
+- Clear evidence of increased scope and impact
+
+**What promotion is NOT:**
+- Reward for tenure (time != promotion)
+- Consolation for not getting other opportunities
+- Response to external offer
+- Given preemptively for "potential"
+
+### Promotion Process
+
+```
+Typical promotion cycle:
+
+1. Manager Assessment (Continuous)
+   ├── Observes engineer operating at next level
+   ├── Collects evidence over 6+ months
+   └── Discusses readiness with engineer
+
+2. Promotion Packet (Quarterly)
+   ├── Manager writes promotion packet
+   ├── Evidence: Projects, impact, growth
+   ├── Peer feedback (360 reviews)
+   └── Scope comparison to others at level
+
+3. Calibration (Quarterly)
+   ├── Managers meet to review all packets
+   ├── Compare candidates across teams
+   ├── Ensure consistent bar across org
+   └── Approve or defer promotions
+
+4. Communication (After approval)
+   ├── Manager shares decision with engineer
+   ├── Celebration with team
+   ├── Updated title and compensation
+   └── New expectations discussed
+```
+
+### Common Promotion Mistakes
+
+**Promoting too early:**
+- Engineer not yet consistently operating at level
+- Based on potential rather than demonstrated performance
+- Result: Engineer struggles, loses confidence
+
+**Promoting too late:**
+- Engineer operating at level for 12+ months
+- Manager delays due to process friction
+- Result: Engineer leaves for better opportunity
+
+**Promoting for wrong reasons:**
+- Retention play after external offer
+- "Owed" after missing previous cycle
+- Political pressure from other teams
+
+**Right approach:**
+- Promote when ready (6-12 months at level)
+- Based on consistent performance and scope
+- Transparent criteria and decision process
+
+---
+
+## Lateral Moves and Career Pivots
+
+### IC → Manager Transition
+
+**When to consider:**
+- Strong interest in people and leadership
+- Track record of mentorship and collaboration
+- Willing to step back from hands-on technical work
+- Comfortable with ambiguity and conflict
+
+**Process:**
+- Start with tech lead role (still IC)
+- Manage 1-2 interns or junior engineers
+- Transition to full-time manager (M3)
+- First 6 months: probation period
+
+**Important:** Manager track is NOT a "promotion" - it's a career change
+
+### Manager → IC Transition
+
+**Why engineers return to IC:**
+- Miss hands-on technical work
+- Prefer deep work over meetings and politics
+- Stronger fit for technical leadership
+- Want to be principal/staff engineer
+
+**Process:**
+- Transparent conversation with leadership
+- Transition plan (handoff team, find coverage)
+- Return at appropriate IC level (usually L5 or L6)
+- No stigma or penalty
+
+**Important:** This is a valid career move, not a demotion
+
+---
+
+## Skills Development for Each Level
+
+### L3 → L4 (0-2 years)
+**Focus:** Execution and learning
+- Master 2-3 core technologies deeply
+- Learn debugging and troubleshooting
+- Write clear documentation
+- Participate in code reviews
+- Shadow on-call rotation
+
+### L4 → L5 (2-5 years)
+**Focus:** Ownership and quality
+- Own projects end-to-end
+- Design solutions independently
+- Mentor junior engineers
+- Lead incident response
+- Contribute to architecture discussions
+
+### L5 → L6 (5-8 years)
+**Focus:** Technical leadership and strategy
+- Lead multi-quarter initiatives
+- Drive architecture decisions
+- Mentor senior engineers
+- Build consensus across teams
+- Think strategically about technical debt
+
+### L6 → L7 (8-12+ years)
+**Focus:** Organizational impact
+- Drive org-wide technical strategy
+- Influence engineering culture
+- Mentor staff engineers
+- Represent company externally
+- Solve highest-impact problems
+
+---
+
+## Career Conversations
+
+### Quarterly Career 1-on-1
+
+**Manager preparation:**
+- Review engineer's goals from last quarter
+- Collect feedback from peers and cross-functional partners
+- Identify growth opportunities and gaps
+- Prepare specific examples of performance
+
+**Discussion structure:**
+```
+1. Reflection (15 min)
+   - "How do you feel about your growth this quarter?"
+   - "What are you most proud of?"
+   - "What was challenging?"
+
+2. Feedback (15 min)
+   - Share specific examples of strengths
+   - Discuss areas for development
+   - Compare to expectations for level
+
+3. Goals (20 min)
+   - Set 2-3 development goals for next quarter
+   - Identify projects or opportunities for growth
+   - Discuss longer-term career aspirations
+
+4. Action plan (10 min)
+   - What support does engineer need from you?
+   - What skills to develop?
+   - Timeline for next promotion discussion
+```
+
+### Annual Promotion Discussion
+
+**If promotion is possible:**
+- "You're on track for promotion to L[X] in next 6-12 months"
+- Specific gaps to close: [list 2-3 areas]
+- Projects to demonstrate readiness: [suggest opportunities]
+- Timeline: Target [specific promotion cycle]
+
+**If promotion is not yet ready:**
+- "You're performing well at L[X], but not yet ready for L[X+1]"
+- Clear feedback on gaps (scope, impact, technical depth)
+- Specific development plan to get there
+- Revisit in 3-6 months
+
+---
+
+## Key Takeaways for Managers
+
+1. **Make expectations clear** - Engineers should know what's expected at their level
+2. **Promote for performance, not potential** - Wait until consistently operating at level
+3. **Be transparent** - Regular career conversations prevent surprises
+4. **Calibrate across teams** - Ensure consistent bar across org
+5. **Support growth** - Provide opportunities and feedback to help engineers level up
+6. **IC and Manager tracks are equal** - Neither is superior
+7. **Career pivots are healthy** - Support lateral moves and transitions
+8. **Document progress** - Keep notes for promotion packets
+9. **Celebrate promotions** - Make it meaningful for engineer and team
+10. **Long-term thinking** - Career development takes years, not quarters
+
+Your job is to help every engineer reach their full potential, whether that's Staff IC or Engineering Manager.