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Our career level framework is meant to help you understand the expectations of your role and provide a common vocabulary for you and your manager to discuss and plan your career development (in addition to where you might want to take your career in the future as outlined in our career roadmap practice). Having shared and visible expectations (as well as a common vocabulary) gives us an accountability framework to reduce bias in promotions/hiring and ensures that we are equitably recognizing everyone for their impact.

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What are the expectations of my role?

It’s important to understand that what is listed in the level descriptions are example behaviors, and not checkboxes for promotion. Doing everything listed there is neither necessary nor sufficient for a promotion.

The expectation is that you demonstrate a level of impact consistently over a span of months within each of the category descriptions for your level. The magnitude of your impact is ultimately the measure of your career growth.

In most cases, a level builds on the expectations from the preceding levels: someone at level M4 must also meet the level M3 expectations. In addition to what is listed there, we expect support engineers at all levels to exhibit our Sourcegraph company values.

Rather than precede each bullet point with “consistently,” we leave it as implicit and we define this as X happening consistently over a period of at least ~6 months. It’s great to do something once, but the real measure of impact is if you are able to do that again and again over a substantial enough period of time.

We expect you to understand where you are at in the framework and always have something clearly defined that is pushing you to outgrow yourself to reach the next level. The process and timeline will vary person to person and should be captured in your career roadmap.

When do I get promoted?

Promotion discussions occur when your manager can make the case that you’ve had at least 12 months of consistent high performance at your current level, and at least 3 months performing consistently at the next level, in all three of the categories. Again, it takes time to demonstrate the “consistently” implicit in the expectations and we want to ensure that you are set up for success to perform at your current level.

Promotions from one level to another are considered in impact reviews conducted by leadership in collaboration with you individually. An in-band compensation increase (while staying at the same level) can happen at any time, in recognition of exceeding expectations in your current level without having yet met the expectations of the next level.

🪜Levels

M3

Leadership

• Development:
  • You develop your team members and hold career conversations with them on a recurring basis.
  • You directly supervise the performance of your direct team.
  • You lead by example, and get actively involved in work as required. Where necessary, you serve as an escalation point for your team on internal or external matters and use servant-leadership to coach.
  • You are able to assess the performance of your team. You regularly reflect on and identify focus areas along with growth plans to guide active development of direct reports (ICs). You regularly reflect on and identify focus areas along with growth plans to guide active development of direct reports (ICs). You clearly communication expectations in terms of performance expectations and promotion; you provide regular feedback with specific examples & a clear understanding of what good looks like.
  • You ensure your team understands and is aligned to vision and strategy. You adjust to meet demands of their team, while identifying and communicating needed adjustments back up to leadership.
• Responsibility:
  • You are able to recruit at all IC levels, sometimes with assistance. You level new hires with some supervision. You maintain a warm pipeline and healthy candidate pool in advance of hiring targets.
  • You drive the delivery of your team’s goals. You have input into broader team / organization goals.
  • You are responsible for the growth, development, and performance of your direct reports.
  • You implement and manage change in an inclusive, organized manner so that the team is collectively aligned and ideally bought-in to the needs and how it impacts company goals.
  • You identify and advocate for appropriate organizational changes: processes, tools, templates, etc.
  • You identify gaps or needs within the team and raise to leadership. You identify and articulate the root cause of problems. You appropriately define and determine trade-offs and priority, then translate insights into potential solutions.
  • You directly oversee the achievement of performance metrics for your team.

Impact

• Scope & Complexity:
  • You partner with peers in different functions within the org. You contribute to cross-functional projects.
  • You own small or functionally specific projects, which have an impact across the entire team or organization. You provide input into plans and provide feedback on plans that are ultimately created and approved by others.
  • You provide updates and incorporate input at key milestones within each project.
  • You perform against expected standards of a front-line-manager-level, even if/when asked to perform IC-level functions.
• Autonomy & Prioritization:
  • You integrate general direction into your work from manager or leadership.
  • You suggest prioritization, which is then approved by leadership.
  • You orient yourself - your focus and priorities - to be congruent with team OKRs and team responsibilities. You appropriately report up and out on status.

Behavior

• Collaboration & Feedback:
  • You consistently deliver specific feedback to your peers and manager.
  • You’re considered by peers and leaders to be an effective partner in listening and highly collaborative.
  • You are skilled at integrating points of view from different teams and types of people.
• Communication:
  • You communicate appropriately up (within org), down (to your team), and sideways (to peers).
  • You independently present complex problems, goals, and ideas in a way that is accessible even to those unfamiliar with the project.
  • You present content in one-on-ones and in group settings, in a way that people can easily digest and assess. Your communication drives clarity.
• Reliability:
  • You support your team while consistently delivering on projects, and communicate promptly to set expectations appropriately.
  • You develop trust amongst your team as a supportive, reliable leader.
  • You set a strong example of accountability across the team and drive accountability with your direct reports.

M4

Leadership

• Development:
  • You develop and mentor your team members on their career goals.
  • You manage and are accountable for the output of your direct team and potentially some sub-teams.
  • You serve as an advisor to your team or sub-teams and may become actively involved as required.
    • You coach and mentor your team through deep, active inspection and shadowing / participating in internal and customer conversations.
  • If second-line:
    • You hold regular skip-level meetings to keep a pulse on the organization, and as necessary identify focus areas along with growth plans to guide mentorship of other managers or ICs.
  • You develop new managers, showing what good looks like and empower them to establish and maintain relationships with their direct reports. You clearly communicate expectations in terms of performance expectations and promotion; you provide regular feedback with specific examples & a clear understanding of what good looks like.
  • You work with your team to build plans for consistently communicating and measuring alignment with team and company vision and strategy.
• Responsibility:
  • You are able to recruit strong ICs and managers as well as all levels of individual contributors. You make appropriate leveling decisions. You maintain a warm pipeline and healthy candidate pool in advance of hiring targets.
  • You deliver on your team’s goals and assist with defining goals and strategy for your function or department.
  • You are responsible for team results, adhering to budgets, and meeting hiring targets of your team.
  • You articulate and oversee change in a way that both achieves alignment and ensures the team understands the why and how it impacts company goals. You are accountable for teams' timely and consistent adoption of new processes, and adherence to process.
  • You oversee the roll-out of appropriate organizational changes: processes, tools, templates, etc.
  • You anticipate issues and blockers proactively. When proactively identifying needs, you articulate the root cause of problems. You appropriately define and determine trade-offs and priority, then translate insights into proactive solutions.
  • You are responsible for the achievement of performance metrics for your teams. You regularly evaluate performance and offer mentorship and coaching as needed.

Impact

• Scope & Complexity:
  • You partner with peers and strategize with other leaders within the org to identify work streams for their team.
  • You lead small project teams where you provide direction which have an impact on the broader organization, and keep stakeholders informed. You create plans that reflect clear and thorough scope, receive necessary external inputs during plan creation, appropriately balancing priorities and needs.
  • You determine key milestones and provide updates and check-ins to relevant teams and partners.
  • You perform against expected standards at a second-line-manager-level, even if/when asked to perform IC-level functions.
• Autonomy & Prioritization:
  • You seek strategic partnership from peers and input from manager or leadership.
  • You provide key input into prioritization that impacts your teams and provide input for prioritization for lower levels.
  • You oversee progress against team goals (& strategic initiatives), reporting in a timely manner, and aligning your activities against agreed upon priorities. You provide strategic recommendations, as necessary.

Behavior

• Collaboration & Feedback:
  • You consistently deliver concrete feedback to your peers and other manager in a way that strengthens relationships and enables projects to advance more quickly.
  • You effectively address and resolve basic conflicts within your team and across adjacent teams, by encouraging your team to resolve conflict directly. When necessary, as a point of escalation, you leverage strongly fostered relationships to partner on healthy resolution.
  • You proactively engage in productive dialogue even when there are conflicting views, both inside and outside the team. You lead others to define problem statements and to identify solutions.
• Communication:
  • You communicate clearly and concisely within and external to the organization; you identify areas for improvement or articulate problems and impact.
  • You facilitate and guide group conversations around complex problems, goals, and ideas. You keep the team on track and focused on delivering actionable next steps.
  • You present content in one-on-ones and in group settings, in a way that motivates and engages.
• Reliability:
  • You always deliver what you say you will, when you say you will, and actively help others deliver on their work.
  • You enable consistent delivery on projects across your team through trust and openness.
  • You set a strong example of accountability across the organization, and amongst adjacent teams.

M5

Leadership

• Development:
  • You develop and mentor your team members, and coach your managers to do the same.
  • You manage and are accountable for the output of at least two or more teams or sub-teams.
  • You are a trusted advisor and thought leader to the managers on your team. You are skilled at enabling others to execute on problem-solving.
  • You hold regular skip-level meetings to keep a pulse on the organization, and actively identify changing or emerging needs within the organization.
  • You communicate clear expectations for direct reports (managers) in terms of performance expectations and promotion; you provide regular feedback with specific examples & a clear understanding of what good likes like
  • You play an active part in defining the strategy for organization. You communicate expectations with consistency and clarity for leaders and amongst team.
• Responsibility:
  • You are able to recruit and attract strong Managers and Senior Managers. You oversee and are accountable to appropriate leveling decisions.
  • You are a thought-leader in defining the vision and strategy for two or more teams or sub-teams. You hold your team accountable to organizational goals.
  • You are accountable for the results, budgets, strategies and hiring of your teams. You propose plans for budgeting, execution, and hiring, including accurate and timely headcount forecasting and oversight of hiring plan s. You are a decision-maker in partnership with both senior and cross-functional leadership.
  • You champion and advocate change to meet the needs of the business and better serve our customers. You oversee the definition of processes and sets standards for change management across the org while maintaining global cohesion.
  • You provide strategic recommendations, as necessary, on determining necessary organizational changes.
  • You anticipate future needs and own defining possible solutions. Rather than being the problem-solver, you lead teams towards solutions as a leader. You identify and surface patterns to peers and leadership with regards to the root causes of problems. You provide appropriate input to collective decision making.
  • You are accountable to the achievement of performance metrics for your teams. You regularly evaluate your organization against them.

Impact

• Scope & Complexity:
  • You partner with peers and strategize with senior leaders across multiple functions within the company.
  • You lead large, high priority, cross-functional, strategic projects, driving multiple decisions that have significant impact on the company’s direction and growth. You are accountable for planning ensuring the proactive cross-functional buy-in in advance of and during plan creation.
  • You ensure your team provides regular updates at key milestones on each project / initiative.
  • You perform against expected standards at a director-level, even if/when asked to perform IC-level functions.
  • You are a stakeholder in company direction.
• Autonomy & Prioritization:

Behavior

• Collaboration & Feedback:
• Communication:
• Reliability: