Google Hierarchy: Job levels at Google

Do not miss this exclusive book on Binary Tree Problems. Get it now for free.

Google is the dream work destination for most of Computer Science students. With over 190,000 employees, people work towards landing a job at Google to solidify their tech career.

In this article at OpenGenus, we have listed the different job levels and grades at Google (Google Hierarchy/ org structure/ technical ladder) along with average salary range at USA and India offices and average experience. Based on this information, plan your career at Google.

Table of contents:

  1. Career growth at Google
  2. Job Levels at Google
  3. Employees at Google

Key Takeaways

  • There are over 148,000 employees at Google with 14 job levels worldwide.
  • Google follows a hierarchical job structure.

Career growth at Google

Google has over 190,000 employees as of October 2023. This makes it one of the largest technology company workforces. Market capitalisation of Google is USD 1.75 Trillion.

Google hires actively in multiple countries including USA, India, Ireland, London and Germany.

Google is known to be a perfect place to boost and build your career as:

  • Pay at Google is highly competitive in the tech market. Do not that some employees are paid less so be sure to know the salary range from this article and bargain to get to the upper part of the range.
  • Google offer oversea opportunities though it may be restricted to top performers.
  • Work at Google is challenging so if you want to grow your knowledge while working, you might find a fit.
  • Perks at Google are well known including free food.

Google is known for offering positions that are lower than one would expect based on work experience and Google has been involved in mass firing recently in 2022 so your job is not safe but dependent on performance. Despite this, it is one of the best technology companies to work for.

Job levels at Google

Google follows a hierarchical organization structure. Interns are referred to be in L2 level. Full-time roles start at L3.

  • L3 to L4: are referred as Early Career job levels
  • L5 to L6: Mid career
  • L7 and beyond: Senior career
Figure: Job Levels at Google (L3 to L11)

Following is the complete list of different job grades and levels at Google:

Job Levels at Google
Job Level Typical Job Titles Experience Range Salary Range (USA) Salary Range (India)
L2 Software Engineer Intern Student pursuing B.Sc, M.Sc, MBA and PhD $60,000 - $120,000 ₹12 - ₹16 lakhs
L3 Software Engineer II 0 to 1 year of experience
BSc students enter at this level.
$120,000 - $160,000+ ₹14 - ₹30 lakhs
L4 Software Engineer III 2 to 4 years of experience
MSc students enter at this level.
$160,000 - $220,000+ ₹30 - ₹45 lakhs
L5 Senior Software Engineer
Manager I
4 to 8 years
PhD students enter at this level.
$220,000 - $280,000+ ₹45 - ₹60 lakhs
L6 Staff Software Engineer
Manager II
8 to 12 years $280,000 - $350,000+ ₹60 - ₹80 lakhs+
L7 Senior Staff Software Engineer
Senior Manager
12 to 18 years $350,000 - $450,000+ ₹80 - ₹1 crores+
L8 Principal Engineer
Director
18 to 24 years $450,000 - $700,000 ₹1 crores - ₹1.8 crores+
L9 Distinguished Engineer
Senior Director
22 to 26 years $600,000 - $850,000 ₹1.6 crores - ₹2.2 crores+
L10 Google Fellow
Vice President
25+ years $900K+ ₹2+ crores
L11 Senior Google Fellow
Senior Vice President
25+ years $1M+ ₹3+ crores

Employee career at Google

Some employees at Google:

  • Sanjay Ghemawat and Jeff Dean are the only Senior Google Fellows (L11).
  • Jeff Dean is a Google Senior Fellow and SVP at Google Research (Job level L11). He has given over 24 years of service to Google and has a total work experience of 27 years. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Washington (1996).
  • Venu Vemula is a VP and Engineering Fellow at Google (California office) (Job level L10). He had completed BE degree in Computer Science from University of Madras in 1994 and had moved to USA in 1997 to work as a Software Engineer at Asyst Technologies. He joined Google in 2005 as a Senior Staff Software Engineer and progressed over the levels.
  • Nikhil Panpalia is a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google (California office) (Job level L7). He has dedicated over 9 years of service to Google and has a total work experience of 14 years. He has completed his B.E degree in Computer Science from Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani in 2008 following which he worked as a Software Engineer II (job level L3) in Google (Bangalore office) and from 2010 to 2012, he pursued MS degree in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin. In 2014, he returned to Google after 2 years at Amazon.
  • Shruti Tomer is a Software Engineer III at Google (Bangalore office) (Job level L4). She has worked at Google for 3 years since November 2020 and has a total work experience of 6 years.

With this article at OpenGenus, you must have a strong idea of the different levels at Google. Enjoy and plan your career at Google accordingly.

Sign up for FREE 3 months of Amazon Music. YOU MUST NOT MISS.