What Is An L9: Fill & Download for Free

Original question:What is the hierarchy of designations in Amazon, like engineer and TPM, and the approximate experience range for each level?The question is phrased a little ambiguously, because it’s unclear whether it implies that “engineer” and “TPM” are levels in a hierarchy (which they’re not; they’re separate disciplines, each with its own hierarchy.)Here’s the question I believe you might be asking:What is the hierarchy of titles in Amazon for engineers and/or TPMs?All jobs at Amazon are ranked with a level, which starts at 1 - for starting warehouse associates, for example - and ends at 12 (Jeff Bezos). Levels are usually denoted as “L#”, e.g. “I’m an L4 SDE” means I’m a Software Development Engineer and my level is 4. There are also job families, like SDE, which define the “default” promotion ladder for an employee. L4 SDEs, for example, will normally progress to L5 and L6 as an SDE, unless they actively switch to a different job family like SDM (Software Development Manager), TPM (technical program manager), etc.Technical and business positions - the stuff you’re probably asking about - start at L4, and for the vast majority of non-managers, or individual contributors (ICs) go up to L8. A select few ICs - typically called “Distinguished Engineer” - are L10, which is equivalent to Vice President (curiously, I’m yet to see an L9 employee of any kind at Amazon; maybe Bezos has a thing about 9, like some buildings don’t have a 13th floor?)Now job titles are not exactly an exact science. There’s a basic job title that’s determined by your job family and level; for example L4 SDEs are “SDE 1”, while L5s are “SDE 2”. But most people will have a different free-form job title that they essentially pick themselves, like “Senior Engineer”, or “Lead Program Manager”. These don’t map directly to specific levels or job families.Finally, “approximate experience” is also a bit fuzzy. Generally, the levels account for how good you are and at what scope you’re operating. For SDEs, for example:SDE 1 (L4): can code something but probably not design it.SDE 2 (L5): can not only code independently, but also design significant chunks of code, deliver significant team-level projects, and guide more junior developers.SDE 3 (L6): can design larger systems, work effectively across multiple teams to deliver large projects, and leads his/her team to technical success.Principal SDE (L7): a bit like SDE 3 but at a wider scope and higher quality.Senior Principal SDE (L8): the next level up. There aren’t too many of those.Distinguished Engineer (L10): there are very few of them, and their job is to be visionaries, technical consultants to the leadership, etc.Most SDEs go from 1 to 2 after 2–3 years, but I’ve known SDE 1s with 4–5 years of experience. I’ve also interviewed people with 10–15 years of industry experience who wouldn’t make the SDE 2 bar at Amazon (and we don’t want them as SDE 1, because their ceiling is obviously low.)Many people get stuck at SDE 2 for many years (myself included) because of some significant holes in their abilities. On the other hand, two of the Principals I’ve worked with are significantly younger (and I assume less experienced) than me.So you see, it’s not as simple or straight-forward as you might imagine. It’s really about how good you are and what you can get done.

L8 fits into 16 06 68 88 (L8) 98These upside down are the numbers 86 to 91.If you turn the page around, you get 86. __. 88, 89, 90, 91. 87 fits there and L9 is 87 rotated by 180 degrees.

Move up or move out.There are only two ways to go about things at your level:If you're the patient type, keep working towards increasing your reach and influence; take on more teams under your wing, pick and lead larger projects and the final outcome will depend on the work you got accomplished and the people you worked with to get there. To get to Senior Staff you need to show exceptional execution and the ability to help your org chain reach its annual goals.If you don't think you can wait, leave and join a different firm. As Staff at Google, you already have a bunch of valuable skills. The upper reaches of Google are getting crowded, turbocharge your career by moving to a place that will need leadership in the days to come. You will grow with the organization into senior roles. As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.To answer your specific questions:1. How do you go about your job so as to climb the engineering ladder further?Know first and foremost, the ladder is an illusion of prestige: it provides a certain amount of social validation and recognition for your efforts that you can take onto your next ventures. It helps motivate people that are driven by recognition (sounds like you are; I am too... to an extent. It's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.)Regarding climbing the ladder: The best way to get to the next level is to work with people that are atleast 1 level higher than the target level and observing them closely. I've found that the behaviors that they exhibit intuitively are very instructive in figuring out what's missing and what can be improved upon. Some of the rationale for the things that they do isn't even clear at the outset (eg. why do X before Y or why cut project Z off with a feature or a meeting) but as I gradually adopt the obvious parts of the things that they do, the rationale for other behavior becomes more apparent.2. What do you do to become let's say an L9 or L10 from there?There's a long way from L7 to L9. Most L8 / L9 have contributed ~ a few hundred million (annually) to Google's bottom line (or manage teams with a similar amount of resources / impact). As time progresses, the ability to make such an impact keeps diminishing and it's likely that going from L6 to L9 is a decade's worth of work on parts that are critical to Google's future as well as the industry's.3. How does being in a satellite office affect your chances of becoming Staff? How does it affect growth beyond Staff in terms of 1 and 2?I've heard a saying second hand (from one SVP to another): "I never promote a person with whom I've never played Golf" (the implication being: you need to be known to be trusted). Becoming Staff should not be an issue in a remote office (as long as there are senior peers there who can vouch for you). Going further up obviously involves you knowing your peers and them knowing and respecting you and your work. A lot of it depends on the quality of your work and your ability to sell it to management and deliver.My 2 cents: if you're happy at Google, stick around and climb the ladder. It's a steady life with lots of respect in the industry. At Staff and above (even at Senior SWE), you're pretty much your own master and can pick and choose what you work on. Your organizational contacts will make you a pillar of the company (eventually) and after that, it's a matter of time and luck.Cheers!Divye