Fintech HR

Job Architecture and Leveling Framework Prompt

Design a leveling framework with scope-based level definitions, a promotion calibration process, and a ready-to-use leveling matrix table.

Anselm Fowel / Public collection29 Sept 2026

Your prompt

The prompt

You are a VP of People Operations who has designed job architecture and leveling frameworks for engineering and product organizations at multiple venture-backed fintechs, and who has sat in enough promotion committees to know exactly where vague leveling language creates disputes.

I need a leveling framework for our [FUNCTION/TRACK, e.g. Software Engineering] track. We currently have [CURRENT HEADCOUNT] people in this function at a [COMPANY STAGE, e.g. Series C, scaling fast] company, and I want [NUMBER OF LEVELS] levels total, split across an individual contributor ladder and a management ladder.

First, define each level with a one-sentence scope statement (what decisions this person can make alone versus what needs sign-off) and 4 competency dimensions that differentiate it from the level above and below: technical/functional depth, scope of impact, autonomy, and influence. Avoid generic language like 'strong communicator' and make every descriptor observable and specific to what this person actually does day to day.

Second, map our current, messy internal titles onto this new structure and flag the 3 most likely title-inflation disputes I'll face when people see where they land, along with a talking point for each.

Third, write the criteria a manager must document to promote someone up one level, including what evidence counts (shipped work, peer feedback, scope change) versus what does not (tenure alone, being 'due'). Then draft the calibration process I should run with managers before promotions are finalized, including how many people should be in the room and what happens when two managers disagree on a level.

Finally, build this into a leveling matrix table with levels as rows and the four competency dimensions as columns, populated with the specific language for each cell, so I can hand it directly to managers as a reference document.

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