Career levels

Northwind uses six consulting levels. Levels describe scope and impact, not just years of experience. This page describes the expectations; pay is covered by the HR confidential salary bands and is not listed here.

The levels

Level Title Typical scope
L1 Associate Consultant Completes well-defined tasks with guidance
L2 Consultant Owns a feature or workstream component
L3 Senior Consultant Owns a workstream, mentors others, estimates work
L4 Lead Consultant Leads a team on a project, shapes the solution
L5 Principal Consultant Leads across projects, advises customers at executive level
L6 Director Leads a practice or major account

Project, delivery and solution architecture roles use the same L1 to L6 scale, for example Project Manager and Delivery Manager sit in the L3 to L5 range.

What we look for

Four themes apply at every level, with greater scope as you progress:

  1. Delivery. Work that meets the definition of done and the customer's acceptance criteria.
  2. Craft. Quality of design, code and documentation, see Coding standards.
  3. Collaboration. Working well with customers and colleagues, including good status reporting.
  4. Leadership. Mentoring, raising standards, and contributing to the wiki and practices.

Review cycle

Performance reviews happen twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn. The steps are:

  1. Self-assessment in the HR portal.
  2. Manager assessment with feedback from at least two colleagues.
  3. Calibration across managers, run by HR (these sessions are confidential).
  4. Conversation with your manager.

Promotion

Promotion is considered when you have consistently operated at the next level for at least two review cycles. Your manager nominates you; the calibration process confirms. Promotion decisions are made in the cycle following the nomination.

Expense approval and levels

Your level does not change the expense rules. Everyone follows POL-FIN-002, see Submit expenses.

Estimates and levels

Senior Consultants (L3) and above are expected to contribute to estimates, see Estimation. Rate cards in Pricing guidelines are organized by level.

Questions

Ask your manager or Carol Nakamura (HR Business Partner). See also Who to ask.

Owner: Sofia Lindqvist - Last updated: 2026-03-27