promotion-draft

name	promotion-draft
description	This skill should be used when preparing a promotion packet, writing self-review for leveling, or asking "am I ready for promotion?", "what does senior/staff look like?", or "help me write my promo doc". Generates level-appropriate impact narratives with scope and influence evidence.
argument-hint	target level, review period, or accomplishments to include
disable-model-invocation	true

Promotion Draft

Build a complete promotion case from recent engineering work.

Input

$ARGUMENTS

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Level Expectations Framework

Scope of Impact by Level

Level	Scope	Typical Evidence
Junior (L3)	Task/Feature	Completes assigned work, learns codebase
Mid (L4)	Project	Owns features end-to-end, mentors juniors
Senior (L5)	Team	Shapes team direction, influences architecture
Staff (L6)	Org/Multi-team	Drives org-wide initiatives, sets standards
Principal (L7)	Company	Industry influence, company-wide strategy

Key Dimensions by Level

Junior → Mid (L3 → L4)

Dimension	Evidence Needed
Independence	Completes work without daily guidance
Scope	Owns full features, not just tasks
Quality	Writes production-ready code first time
Communication	Explains technical decisions clearly

Mid → Senior (L4 → L5)

Dimension	Evidence Needed
Technical leadership	Others seek your opinion, you shape decisions
Ambiguity	Navigate unclear requirements, define solutions
Multiplier	Make the team more effective, not just yourself
Influence	Drive outcomes beyond assigned work

Senior → Staff (L5 → L6)

Dimension	Evidence Needed
Org impact	Work affects multiple teams
Strategy	Connect technical work to business goals
Standards	Create patterns others adopt
Sponsorship	Senior leadership knows your work

Staff → Principal (L6 → L7)

Dimension	Evidence Needed
Industry	External recognition, conference talks, papers
Company strategy	Influence product/technical direction
Organization building	Grow senior talent, shape culture
Innovation	Novel solutions to hard problems

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Translating Technical Work to Impact

For each accomplishment, use the impact-narrative skill to translate technical work into business language. It provides frameworks for quantifying impact, framing for different audiences, and the STAR-L narrative structure. This skill focuses on assembling those translated accomplishments into a level-appropriate promotion packet.

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Promotion Packet Structure

1. Summary Statement

One paragraph answering: "Why should this person be promoted now?"

Formula:

[Name] has consistently operated at [target level] by [key evidence].
Their work on [biggest accomplishment] demonstrates [key dimension].
Promoting them formalizes the scope they're already operating at.

2. Impact Themes (3-5)

Group accomplishments into themes that demonstrate level-appropriate scope.

Theme Type	Example
Technical excellence	"Architected scalable solutions"
Leadership	"Elevated team capabilities"
Business impact	"Directly enabled revenue growth"
Cross-functional	"Partnered across org boundaries"
Innovation	"Introduced novel approaches"

3. Accomplishment Bullets

For each theme, 2-4 specific accomplishments.

Bullet Formula:

[Strong verb] + [what] + [scope/scale] + [measurable result] + [so-what]

Level-Appropriate Verbs:

Level	Verbs
Mid	Built, implemented, shipped, fixed, improved
Senior	Designed, led, drove, mentored, standardized
Staff	Architected, established, influenced, championed, transformed
Principal	Pioneered, defined, shaped, evangelized

4. Scope Evidence

Concrete proof of operating at target level scope.

Scope	Evidence Types
Team	Code reviews given, mentoring, team process improvements
Multi-team	RFCs reviewed, cross-team projects, shared libraries
Org	Standards adopted, architecture decisions, hiring influence
Company	Company-wide tools, external visibility, exec presentations

5. Stakeholder Quotes

Who can vouch for this work?

Stakeholder	What They Can Speak To
Manager	Day-to-day performance, growth
Skip-level	Strategic impact, leadership
Peers	Collaboration, technical respect
Cross-functional	Impact outside engineering
Reports	Mentorship, leadership style

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Gathering Evidence

From Git History

# Your commits in review period
git log --author="[you]" --since="[start date]" --oneline

# Files you've touched most
git log --author="[you]" --since="[start date]" --name-only --format="" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20

# Your PRs with reviews
gh pr list --author="[you]" --state=merged --limit=100

From Dev OS Events

# Your impact events
grep "tool_write" ~/.claude/dev-os-events.jsonl | jq -r '.payload.files[]' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Large changes (architecture-level work)
grep "large_change" ~/.claude/dev-os-events.jsonl

# Decisions documented
grep "decision_tradeoff" ~/.claude/dev-os-events.jsonl

From Documents

• Design docs authored
• RFCs proposed/reviewed
• Post-mortems led
• Documentation written

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Common Promotion Pitfalls

Pitfall	Problem	Fix
Activity, not impact	Lists tasks done	Connect to outcomes
Solo hero	All "I" statements	Show multiplier effect
Recency bias	Only recent work	Cover full review period
Missing scope	Work without context	Explain why it mattered
Vague claims	"Improved performance"	Add numbers, specifics
Wrong audience	Too technical	Lead with business impact

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Self-Assessment: Am I Ready?

Checklist for Target Level

For Senior (L5)

• Others on the team come to me for technical guidance
• I've driven at least one project without manager direction
• I've improved a team process or practice
• I've mentored at least one junior engineer
• My code reviews teach, not just approve

For Staff (L6)

• I've influenced technical direction beyond my team
• Engineers outside my team know my work
• I've written standards/patterns others adopted
• I can connect my work to business metrics
• Senior leadership has visibility into my contributions

For Principal (L7)

• I've shaped company-wide technical strategy
• I have external industry presence
• I've grown engineers to senior/staff level
• My work has multi-year impact
• I'm consulted on org-level decisions

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Output Format

Promotion Packet: [Name] → [Target Level]

Summary

[One paragraph summary statement]

---

Theme 1: [Name]

Scope: [Team/Multi-team/Org]

• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]
• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]

Evidence: [Specific artifacts, links, quotes]

---

Theme 2: [Name]

Scope: [Team/Multi-team/Org]

• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]
• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]

Evidence: [Specific artifacts, links, quotes]

---

Theme 3: [Name]

Scope: [Team/Multi-team/Org]

• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]
• [Accomplishment bullet with metrics]

Evidence: [Specific artifacts, links, quotes]

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Scope Summary

Dimension	Evidence
Technical leadership	[examples]
Cross-team influence	[examples]
Mentorship/multiplier	[examples]

Stakeholder Support

Name	Role	Can Speak To
[name]	[title]	[topic]

Gaps to Address

[Any areas where evidence is thin, with plan to strengthen]

Recommendation

Ready for promotion: [Yes / Not yet / Needs more time]

If not yet: [Specific gaps and timeline to address]