What is included in Carta's leveling framework?

Carta Total Compensation’s leveling framework includes nine levels for individual contributors, five levels for management, and four levels for executives.

Some job areas are distinct at the IC and lower levels of management, but grow to fall under a single job area at the higher levels. For example, in the Finance and Accounting job areas, the highest position within each would be managed by the CFO.

Many companies have moved towards a Dual Career Ladder leveling framework for R&D, where compensation bands between IC and Management roles overlap. See the Engineering job area for an example of a dual ladder structure.

Level	Individual Contributor (IC)	People Manager	Executive
1	Entry level Acquires job skills and learns company policies and procedures to complete routine tasks.
2	Mid 1 (developing) Learns to use professional concepts. Applies team procedures to solve routine problems. Proficient in core skills required to perform their job with some oversight.
3	Mid 2 (Proficient) Demonstrates professional expertise, applies company policies and procedures to resolve a variety of issues.
4	Senior 1 (Skilled) A seasoned, experienced professional with a full understanding of the area of specialization; resolves a wide range of issues in creative ways.	Team Lead Provides supervision to ICs, primarily in terms of work output and ability to meet team/role objectives. Acts as advisor to unit or sub-units and may become actively involved, as required, to meet schedules and resolve problems.
5	Senior 2 (Advanced) Having wide-ranging experience, uses professional concepts and company objectives to resolve complex issues in creative and effective ways.	Manager Manages, perhaps through other Team Leads, the coordination of the activities of a section or department with responsibility for results.
6	Staff (Expert) Having broad expertise or specialized knowledge, uses skills to contribute to development of company objectives and principles and to achieve goals in creative and effective ways.	Senior Manager Manages the work and teams of two or more departments. Oversees costs, strategies, and staffing. May have managers reporting to them depending on team size/need.
7	Senior Staff (Advisor) As an expert in the field, uses professional concepts in developing resolution to critical issues and broad design matters.	Director Leads a broad functional area through several department managers within the company. Has overall control of planning, staffing, budgeting, managing expense priorities, and recommending and implementing changes to methods.
8	Principal (Strategist) A professional that guides a specialized and/or strategic job area/product roadmap; viewed as an expert in their field.	Senior Director Leads one or more functional ares, product groups or service areas through senior managers who have overall responsibility for the successful operation of those assigned ares.
9	Distinguished (Thought Leader) Top individual contributor technical position in the organization, who brings domain expertise and impact equivalent to that of a VP; a known expert in their field.		Vice President Leads a complete job area through multiple levels of management within the company. Has overall control of planning, staffing, budgeting, and approving changes to strategies and practices. Manages a team of directors and/or high-level individual contributors.
10			Senior Vice President Leads more than one job area or product group through vice president level executive leaders who have overall operational responsibility for their assigned job areas, geographic regions, and businesses.
11			C-Level Develops company-wide vision and the strategy to achieve highest company priorities.
12			CEO Leads the company.

Track	Oversees
Executive	People managers
People Management	ICs
Individual Contributor (IC)	Does not oversee people

What are Tracks?