I would stay away from any company that treats Staff as a natural progression on the road the management. You just have 4 senior levels at that point, which is

I would stay away from any company that treats Staff as a natural progression on the road the management. You just have 4 senior levels at that point, which is fine if that's what you need/want, but it shows a genuine misunderstanding of the IC path. I'm a big fan of the 1 and 2 levels for mid+ as it gives a little more granularity, and the opportunity to increase pay a bit more and still have reasonable pay bands. But at the last senior level you really need to start focusing on whether you want to be in the IC track or the management track. You can certainly switch (I have) but they're very different and "ok you performed well as a Staff 2, we'll promote you to EM1 now" is a red flag in my opinion.