At my company we have recently rolled out a new framework where the IC track has rungs that run parallel to middle management roles. we're calling it "advanced

At my company we have recently rolled out a new framework where the IC track has rungs that run parallel to middle management roles. we're calling it "advanced professional", and has 3 levels, the highest being equivalent to the leader of a function, if you're familiar with the domain / function / specialty paradigm. This is essentially a director level individual contributor which I think is a pretty cool. We're just a medium sized services company (localization, AI training data production, digital marketing). so if we're doing this I expect a lot of people will be soon enough.