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Career Framework Hub

Career Framework Hub is a fictional, eight-page employee site with sample job families, role levels, career tracks, development conversations, mobility guidance, and career stories. Clone it to give employees a clear place to explore growth without implying promotion is guaranteed.

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Overview

Career Framework Hub is a fictional employee intranet site for organizations that want to make career information easier to explore. Its eight pages connect an overview to job-family comparisons, illustrative role levels and individual-contributor or people-lead tracks, a development-conversation guide, fictional promotion stories, a returnship program example, internal mobility guidance, and conversation prompts. The navigation tree gives employees a clear route between these topics rather than leaving each page as a standalone document.

Use the template as a starting point when employees need to understand what kinds of work different families do, prepare for a manager conversation, or explore growth without assuming that every path leads to promotion. The examples focus on observable contributions—such as clarifying a handoff, testing a checklist, or recording what changed—so employees and managers have something concrete to discuss. A job-listings block is configured on the internal-mobility page for up to five published career-portal openings; its live content depends on the connected source.

This is not a ready-made HR policy, official job architecture, promotion rubric, compensation guide, or guarantee of employment. Northstar names, roles, locations, program details, and stories are fictional examples. Before publishing, confirm the organization’s actual framework, eligibility and decision processes, program information, page owner, correction route, and any applicable locations. Avoid using the sample stories as evidence of typical outcomes or using illustrative levels as a substitute for approved role descriptions.

Standards & compliance context

Review and adapt career criteria with appropriate HR and legal stakeholders so the published framework reflects applicable employment requirements and organizational policy; this example does not establish compliance.
Do not present illustrative role levels, sample stories, or returnship details as official eligibility criteria, promotion decisions, or guarantees of employment or compensation.
Check pages for WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, including meaningful headings, keyboard navigation, readable contrast, descriptive link text, and alternative text for informative images.
Before publishing employee stories, obtain appropriate permission, verify factual details, and provide a correction route in line with organizational privacy and communications practices.

General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.

What's inside this template

Career Framework

Understand your career path
A practical guide for Northstar Services employees exploring role expectations and ways to grow. Fictional sample framework: use these examples to see how responsibilities and contributions can develop across roles.
What the framework describes
Role levels describe the scope of responsibility, decisions, collaboration, and demonstrated contribution expected in a role. They are not a measure of personal worth, and time in a role alone does not determine level. Building a skill is useful even when your role stays the same. Learning, taking on a stretch assignment, or demonstrating broader contribution does not guarantee promotion or a change in pay; those outcomes depend on the organization's applicable review and decision processes.
Choose where to start
Go straight to the reference that answers your question. Compare job families See how Service Operations and Customer Experience contribute. Understand levels and tracks Compare scope across two illustrative levels and two career tracks. Plan a development conversation Turn an expectation into an opportunity and useful evidence. Promotion Stories Employees who grew into new roles, in their own words. Returnship Program Returning to work after a career break, with structured support. Internal Mobility How internal moves work and where openings are posted. Growth Conversations Talking with your manager about where you want to grow.
A responsibility can grow through its impact
One example from the fictional Service Operations family. Make a handoff clearer A coordinator notices that requests often arrive without a clear next owner. They revise the handoff checklist with the team and use it on their own work. Names the information the next person needs. Checks whether the revised checklist is usable during a real handoff. Example contribution Help another team adopt it A broader contribution could include sharing the checklist with a partner team, gathering their feedback, and adjusting the guidance so it works for both workflows. Explains the change and the reason for it. Records feedback and clarifies what should happen when an exception occurs. Broader influence

Job Families

Two ways to improve a shared service
These fictional Northstar Services families work on different parts of the same service experience. Service Operations focuses on reliable workflows and well-managed exceptions. Customer Experience focuses on understanding recurring customer needs and making guidance easier to use. The examples show typical contributions, not a complete job description or a ranking between families.
Compare the work
The same service issue can call for different, complementary contributions. Primary focus Keep service workflows clear, coordinated, and workable. Make customer-facing guidance and interactions clearer. Typical responsibility Review incoming work, route exceptions, and document the next owner. Review recurring questions and identify where instructions confuse customers. Example contribution Revise a handoff checklist so the receiving team can see the status and next action. Rewrite a help article so customers can distinguish a routine request from an exception. Useful collaboration Share workflow changes and exception patterns with partner teams. Bring customer feedback and draft guidance to operations partners for review.
One issue, two useful perspectives
Worked example: customers are unsure what happens after submitting a request. Service Operations contribution The operations colleague traces the handoff and identifies where ownership becomes unclear. They make the next owner and status visible in the internal checklist. Captures the missing handoff detail. Checks the revised checklist with the next team in the workflow. Customer Experience contribution The customer experience colleague reviews the questions people ask and revises the confirmation guidance to explain what happens next and where to find updates. Uses recurring questions to identify unclear wording. Checks the draft with an operations partner before sharing it.

Role Levels and Tracks

Scope grows through responsibility and contribution
This fictional example uses two levels: Level 1 — Role Contributor and Level 2 — Senior Contributor . The labels are illustrative, not a universal standard. Expectations focus on the work and its impact, not tenure alone. At each level, a person may grow as an individual contributor or in a people-lead role. Both tracks contribute to good outcomes in different ways.
A sample role matrix
Illustrative expectations for Service Operations. Apply the same dimensions to other job families. Scope Owns assigned workflow tasks and flags exceptions. Coordinates day-to-day work and clarifies task ownership. Level 1 — Role Contributor Decisions Uses established guidance; asks for help when a case falls outside it. Helps the team apply agreed priorities and raises unresolved trade-offs. Collaboration Provides the next owner with a complete handoff. Checks that handoffs between team members have an owner and next action. Example contribution Updates an assigned case with the key status and the next step. Facilitates a short review of recurring handoff gaps and records actions. Improves a workflow across related tasks or partner teams. Supports team capability and coordinates work across a broader workflow. Level 2 — Senior Contributor Recommends a workflow change using observed patterns and partner input. Makes day-to-day coordination decisions within agreed responsibilities and escalates unresolved constraints. Brings partner teams into testing and refining a change. Coaches colleagues through the agreed process and checks whether guidance is understood. Tests a revised checklist with a partner team and documents what changed. Sets up a team review of the checklist, assigns follow-up actions, and checks completion.
Two valid ways to grow
The tracks are different kinds of contribution, not a preferred and secondary path. Individual contributor Deepen expertise, improve how work is done, and help others use sound guidance without taking on people-management responsibility. Explain the reasoning behind a workflow recommendation. Test a change with the teams affected. Share reusable guidance. People lead Enable team performance by coordinating work, clarifying responsibilities, and supporting colleagues' development. Make ownership and follow-up clear. Give specific feedback linked to the work. Surface obstacles the team cannot resolve alone.
Questions employees often ask
Can I grow without moving to a people-lead role? Yes. The individual-contributor track offers ways to increase expertise, improve work across teams, and share knowledge without making people management the goal. Does demonstrating the next level mean I will be promoted? No. Developing skills or demonstrating broader contributions does not guarantee promotion or a pay change. Any role or compensation decision depends on the organization's applicable review and decision processes. Is time in a role enough to establish level? This example describes levels through scope, decisions, collaboration, and demonstrated contribution. Time in a role can provide opportunities to build experience, but it is not the only evidence.

Advancement and Development Guide

Make development specific and reviewable
A useful development conversation connects a role expectation to a real opportunity and observable evidence. Learning goals can support your growth whether or not a role change is available. In this fictional example, the employee is building toward broader workflow influence. The purpose is to make progress discussable, not to promise a promotion or compensation outcome.
From expectation to evidence
Use this sequence to prepare for a conversation with your manager. Bring a concrete example and a question about what to try next. Choose one responsibility Select a role expectation you want to practice, such as improving a handoff used by a partner team. Find a suitable opportunity Agree on a real piece of work where you can practice the responsibility, including who needs to be involved. Record what you did Note the situation, your actions, the people or teams involved, and what changed or was learned. Discuss progress and next steps Ask what evidence is useful, where your approach should improve, and what opportunity would help you develop further.
Turn a broad claim into evidence
Example: describe the handoff improvement clearly without claiming an unverified result. Before “Helped improve handoffs.” The action is unclear. The reader cannot see your contribution or how others were involved. Too broad After “I worked with the receiving team to revise the handoff checklist, adding a clear next-owner field and a place to record the current status. We tested the draft on routine requests and noted one exception that needed clearer guidance.” Names the change and collaboration. Describes what was tested and what still needs attention. Observable example
Keep the conversation grounded
What can count as evidence? A work example can describe the situation, your actions, who you collaborated with, and the observed result or learning. A revised checklist, reviewed guidance, or recorded follow-up actions can help make the example concrete. What if a role change is not currently available? Discuss which skills you can keep building in your current work, what opportunity could provide useful practice, and when to revisit the conversation. Skill development remains valuable, but it does not guarantee a future role change or pay change. How do I know whether my example meets an expectation? Compare your example with the responsibility and scope described for the relevant role family and level. Ask your manager what is clear, what is missing, and what further evidence or practice would help.

Promotion Stories

This fictional story page illustrates varied learning and work experiences, not promotion criteria or promised outcomes.

Promotion Stories
Hear from Northstar colleagues who grew into new roles, in their own words. These fictional examples show the learning, practice, and support behind a role change. They are stories—not promotion criteria or promises of a particular career path.
Three paths, told by colleagues
Names, roles, locations, and story details below are fictional examples created for this template. From service desk to team lead “I started on the customer service desk at Northstar’s Lakeside store. I kept a notebook of the questions I had to solve more than once, then shared the patterns with my shift lead. When a team lead opportunity came up, I could talk about specific examples of helping teammates resolve customer issues and keeping handovers clear. The move took practice and feedback; it was not an automatic step.” Fictional example: Riley Chen, Customer Service Associate to Customer Service Team Lead. Fictional location: Lakeside store. Riley says regular feedback from the shift lead helped identify what to practice before taking on team coordination. Fictional example From production operator to quality technician “At the Northstar Cedar Plant, I became curious about why a recurring defect appeared on one product run. I learned to record the relevant process details and raise questions with the quality team instead of guessing at a cause. Training and time shadowing a technician helped me understand the work. Moving into quality meant learning a new set of responsibilities, and I still ask for help when a result is unclear.” Fictional example: Jordan Patel, Production Operator to Quality Technician. Fictional location: Cedar Plant. The learning and role-change details are illustrative, not a published Northstar qualification or process. From office coordinator to project planner “In the Northstar Harbor office, I coordinated meeting logistics and noticed that teams often needed the same schedule information in different formats. I volunteered to help maintain one shared project calendar and learned how planners track dependencies and changes. My manager gave me feedback on how I explained risks and next steps. That experience helped me prepare for a project planning role.” Fictional example: Morgan Lewis, Office Coordinator to Project Planner. Fictional location: Harbor office. The shared calendar and learning activities are story details, not a statement about Northstar’s official selection process.
Find career guidance
For role expectations and career-planning guidance, use the existing Career Framework Hub. Confirm its destination and connect this callout after adding the page to that hub. This page shares illustrative stories only; it does not define promotion eligibility, decisions, or timelines. Open the Career Framework Hub for the authoritative guidance on career paths and role expectations.
Using and maintaining these stories
Before publishing a real employee story, obtain the employee’s permission, confirm their role and location details, and preserve their words accurately. Make clear which details are the employee’s experience and which guidance belongs in the Career Framework Hub. The page owner should be the role responsible for employee communications or career content. Provide a visible way to request a correction through the organization’s established content-support route. Review a story when the employee’s role or the linked career guidance changes, or when the employee requests a correction. Confirm the owner and correction route during setup; this example does not invent a Northstar contact or review schedule. Any names, locations, role changes, and work details shown here are fictional examples, not verified Northstar employee facts.

Returnship Program

A supported route back into work
For people exploring a return to employment after a career break—not a return from leave at a current employer. This example follows Northstar Services, a fictional organization. Its sample returnship combines scoped project work, coaching, and a conversation about possible next steps; it is an example design, not a promise of eligibility or employment.
What the sample program is designed to provide
These are Northstar Services' illustrative program commitments, not universal terms. A defined piece of work The participant and project lead agree a useful, bounded assignment, its expected outputs, and when to review progress. Project A named coaching role A coach helps the participant reflect on work, identify questions, and prepare for conversations. The coach does not replace the project lead. Coaching Regular work conversations The participant and project lead use agreed check-ins to clarify priorities, surface blockers, and adjust scope when needed. Coordination A transition discussion At the end of the assignment, the participant and relevant program or hiring contacts can discuss possible next steps. A discussion does not guarantee a role. Next steps
How participation can work
A sample sequence; actual steps depend on the organization's approved program. Explore the opportunity Read the current program information and use the organization's established channel to ask about available opportunities and the approved interest process. Discuss fit and questions Talk through the work, the support available, and questions about scope and expectations. Do not assume a role, location, or schedule is available unless confirmed. Agree the assignment and support Before project work begins, the participant and project lead clarify the deliverable, boundaries, review point, and who to contact about work questions. Agree how coaching fits alongside the project. Complete and review the work Use the agreed check-ins to review progress and raise scope questions early. At the end, summarize the work and what was learned. Discuss possible next steps The participant and relevant contacts discuss available options and timing. The conversation is not an offer or a guarantee of employment.
Who does what
Clear roles make the project useful without expecting one person to provide every kind of support. Participant and project lead The participant completes the agreed work and raises questions when scope or priorities are unclear. The project lead sets the work context, gives timely feedback, and agrees any changes to the assignment. Name the deliverable and what is outside scope. Agree a review point before work starts. Record decisions that change the assignment. Participant and coach The coach provides a separate space to reflect on the experience and prepare questions. The participant chooses what to raise; project decisions remain with the participant and project lead. Bring one current work question to a coaching conversation. Use coaching to prepare for, not replace, a project check-in. Ask the program contact how to raise questions that need a different handoff.
Worked example: keep the first assignment bounded
A fictional coordination example from Northstar Services A returning analyst and a project lead agree to map one internal reporting handoff: the point where a monthly summary moves from one team to another. They define the output as a one-page map of the handoff and a short list of open questions—not a redesign of the full reporting process. They set a review point after the first draft. The project lead checks whether the map reflects the team's current work; the participant notes uncertainties rather than guessing. In coaching, the participant prepares questions about how to request context from a second team. The project lead owns any decision to expand the assignment. Why this scope works: it gives the participant a concrete deliverable, makes the boundary visible, and creates a specific moment to review progress before additional work is considered.
An illustrative participant story
Fictional sample story In this fictional example, a participant starts with one clearly scoped handoff map. At the review, the project lead points out what is useful and identifies one question to investigate next. The participant takes that question to coaching, then returns to the project conversation with a clearer request for context. The assignment makes progress visible without pretending that every answer—or a job outcome—is already decided. Illustrative participant voice Northstar Services
Ask about current opportunities
Start with the organization's established Talent and Learning or hiring channel. The Talent and Learning program owner is the appropriate role to clarify program information and route correction or participation questions. Ask which returnship opportunities are currently open and where the approved interest process is published. Before expressing interest, clarify the assignment, available coaching, and the contacts for project questions. If a form is provided through an authorized organizational system, use it for its stated purpose and do not send sensitive personal details through an unapproved channel.

Internal Mobility

Explore a move by learning about the work
Mobility can include a project, temporary responsibility, cross-team collaboration, or a role change. Explore the published career-portal openings below and read each vacancy’s stated audience and application instructions. This list does not represent a separate internal-only vacancy feed. For an internal move, use your organization’s established internal mobility route to confirm the process, eligibility questions, and required conversations. A development discussion or a listing on this page does not guarantee a transfer.
Published career-portal openings
A practical exploration sequence
Name the work that interests you Identify a task or problem, such as finding patterns in recurring service issues. Compare everyday tasks with your strengths Ask what people do regularly and which parts use skills you already practice. Identify one learning gap Choose a skill or context you want to understand better before deciding what to pursue. Find an appropriate way to learn Ask about a suitable observation, shared task, or project contribution.
Worked example: a useful cross-team handoff
Fictional Northstar Services scenario: Service Delivery shares a recurring issue with Quality and Improvement. Issue summary Several recent requests describe confusion at the same handoff. State the recurring issue plainly; do not claim a trend from one example. Relevant context Include appropriate, non-sensitive examples and the step where the confusion appeared. Give enough context to understand the workflow without sharing unnecessary personal details. Learning question What further evidence would help determine whether these cases share a cause? Invite the receiving team to identify what information would be useful next.
Questions people often ask
Does sideways growth count? It can. A move into adjacent work may deepen expertise, broaden relationships, or reveal new interests without being a promotion. Do I need to feel fully ready before exploring? You can begin by learning about the work and identifying what you would need to practice. Exploration is not a commitment to apply or transfer. What if there is no relevant role listed? A vacancy list shows current listed opportunities, not every way to learn about work. Start with a task, skill, or problem that interests you, and ask your manager about a suitable learning activity. Do not treat exploration as evidence that a role is open.

Growth Conversations

Make room for a useful growth conversation
You do not need a finished career plan. Bring a real work example, a direction you are curious about, and one question you would like to explore together.
A simple conversation agenda
Use the prompts that fit; the aim is a shared next step, not a perfect script. Work that energizes me Name a task or kind of problem you would like to do more often. What part of the work holds your attention? A skill in practice Bring one recent example and explain what you did. What changed for a customer, teammate, or process? A direction to explore Share an area of work, new responsibility, or skill that interests you. What would help you understand the day-to-day work? Support and review Agree what feedback or opportunity could help you learn, and when to revisit it. What is a practical next check-in point?
Bring a concrete example
Fictional Northstar Services example: a coordinator wants to learn whether quality-focused work is a good fit. What I will bring A recurring case-resolution example and a question about how useful issue summaries are. Describe the situation and action. Explain what the next teammate needed to know. What I will ask Could I observe a suitable quality review and discuss what I learned afterward? Ask what preparation would help. Agree how and when to review the learning.
If your direction is still uncertain
How can I talk about uncertainty? Say what you know so far: which tasks interest you, what you have learned from recent work, and what you would like to investigate next. Can I discuss sideways growth without naming a role? Yes. Describe the kind of work or skill you want to explore and ask about a suitable way to learn more. What if there is no opportunity immediately? Use the conversation to identify a useful next question, feedback source, or learning activity. Exploring an idea does not establish that a role is open.

How to use this template

Review the navigation tree and page list, then decide which pages fit your employee audience and remove any that do not apply.
Replace the fictional Northstar job families, role levels, program descriptions, and examples with approved organizational content, keeping distinctions between development and promotion decisions explicit.
Assign an accountable content owner and confirm subject-matter reviewers, the correction route, review triggers, and who can verify program or vacancy information.
Configure the job-listings source for the internal-mobility page if you want its block to show current published openings, and test the page with and without available listings.
Check every page’s links, headings, navigation labels, mobile layout, and accessibility, and confirm that real employee stories have permission and verified details before publishing.
Publish through the established employee channel, explain what the hub does and does not promise, and update pages when framework or program information changes.

Best practices

Keep role expectations tied to observable scope, decisions, collaboration, and contribution rather than tenure or personal worth.
Label example frameworks, stories, locations, and program details as fictional until they have been replaced or verified.
Keep the individual-contributor and people-lead tracks distinct in their work while showing that both can offer meaningful growth.
Use specific evidence in development examples, such as the action taken, partners involved, and what was tested or learned, without claiming unverified results.
State the authoritative owner and correction route for career guidance, and point employees to the organization’s actual decision process for promotion or compensation questions.
Keep each page focused on its reader task: orientation, comparison, preparation, or program guidance; avoid repeating policy content across pages.
Confirm that job listings come from the intended career-portal source and do not describe them as internal-only unless the source and access rules support that claim.
Obtain employee permission and verify role and location details before replacing fictional promotion stories with real accounts.

What this template typically catches

Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:

Fictional sample role levels are mistaken for an approved company-wide job architecture.

Employees read development examples as a promise of promotion or pay change.

Job-family descriptions become vague and fail to show distinct work or useful collaboration.

A career story is published with unverified role or location details or without the employee’s permission.

The job-listings block appears empty because its career-portal source has not been configured or has no current listings.

A returnship example is treated as a current offer with confirmed eligibility, timing, or employment outcomes.

Career guidance becomes stale because no accountable page owner or review trigger is defined.

Employees cannot find the relevant reference because page labels or navigation do not match their questions.

Common use cases

HR team launching a career-framework hub

Use the connected pages to introduce approved job families and role expectations, then route employees to development and mobility guidance. Replace the Northstar examples and confirm an owner, correction route, and review triggers before launch.

People manager preparing a growth conversation

Use the advancement guide and growth-conversation prompts to connect one responsibility to a real work opportunity and observable evidence. The examples support a discussion; they do not establish a promotion decision or guarantee.

Service operations and customer experience leaders

Adapt the sample comparison to explain how operational workflow improvements and customer-facing guidance can contribute to the same service outcome. Replace the fictional responsibilities with examples grounded in each team’s actual work.

Talent team explaining internal mobility

Pair the exploration steps with the configured published career-portal listings so employees can learn about work as well as review openings. Clarify the actual internal application route and avoid implying that the listing block is an internal-only feed.

Returnship program owner scoping an example

Adapt the sample sequence and role cards to explain assignment boundaries, project-lead responsibilities, coaching, check-ins, and possible next-step discussions. Confirm approved program terms and avoid implying eligibility or employment is guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Career Framework Hub template include?

It includes eight connected pages: a framework overview, job-family comparison, role-level matrix, advancement guide, promotion stories, returnship example, internal mobility guide, and growth-conversation prompts. The Northstar examples are fictional and illustrate how responsibilities and development discussions might be described. The site navigation links the pages into one employee-facing hub.

Is this framework ready to use as our official career policy?

No. The job families, levels, stories, program details, and examples are illustrative, not verified policy or universal standards. Replace them with approved, organization-specific information and confirm scope, terminology, and decision processes with the appropriate owners. Keep the distinction between development guidance and formal promotion or compensation decisions clear.

Who should own and maintain the hub?

Assign an accountable owner for career content, such as the role responsible for employee communications or career frameworks, and identify the relevant subject-matter reviewers. The owner should keep a correction route visible and review pages when role expectations, program details, or linked guidance change. The template does not name a real contact or establish a review schedule, so confirm both during setup.

How often should the pages be reviewed?

Set a review cadence that matches how often your career framework and programs change; the sample site does not prescribe one. Review sooner when job-family definitions, role expectations, mobility processes, or returnship information changes, and when an employee flags a story or page for correction. Record the owner and next review trigger in your content-maintenance process.

Does demonstrating the next level guarantee a promotion or pay increase?

No. The sample pages explicitly distinguish skill development and broader contribution from promotion or compensation outcomes. Decisions depend on your organization's applicable review and decision processes, which this template does not define. Preserve that qualification when adapting the examples.

What should we customize before publishing?

Replace the fictional Northstar organization, job families, levels, roles, examples, and program details with approved content—or retain them only when clearly labeled as examples. Confirm that any stated opportunity, eligibility rule, process, location, or contact is accurate for the audience. Remove the sample promotion stories or obtain permission and verify details before publishing real employee stories.

Does the template connect to job listings or other live systems?

The internal-mobility page contains a job-listings block configured to show up to five published career-portal openings. Availability and behavior depend on the connected source in your site setup; the page does not claim to provide a separate internal-only vacancy feed. Other stories, tables, and examples are authored sample content, not live data or automated workflows.

How should we roll out the hub to employees?

First confirm the framework, page owners, correction route, and any connected job-listings source. Then check the navigation and links, replace or clearly retain fictional content, and test that employees can scan the pages on mobile and with assistive technology. Introduce the hub through your established employee channels and explain that it supports exploration and conversations rather than guaranteeing a role change.

Why use a hub instead of ad-hoc career guidance pages?

The hub groups related references and practical guidance under one navigation tree, so employees can move from job families to levels, evidence, and conversations without searching across disconnected pages. Its examples make abstract expectations easier to discuss while keeping the fictional status and limits visible. A hub still needs an accountable owner; otherwise, centralizing content can simply create one stale destination.

Can employees use the examples across different roles and locations?

The examples show a way to describe responsibilities and development, not a complete job description or a universal level standard. Adapt the dimensions to each relevant job family and confirm which guidance applies by role, location, or employee group. Do not infer local applicability or eligibility from the fictional Northstar examples.

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Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.

8 pages Career Framework Job Families Role Levels and Tracks Advancement and Development Guide Promotion Stories Returnship Program Internal Mobility Growth Conversations

Career Framework Understand your career path A practical guide for Northstar Services employees exploring role expectations and ways to grow. Fictional sample framework: use these examples to see how responsibilities and contributions can develop across roles. What the framework describes Role levels describe the scope of responsibility, decisions, collaboration, and demonstrated contribution expected in a role. They are not a measure of personal worth, and time in a role alone does not determine level. Building a skill is useful even when your role stays the same. Learning, taking on a stretch assignment, or demonstrating broader contribution does not guarantee promotion or a change in pay; those outcomes depend on the organization's applicable review and decision processes. Choose where to start Go straight to the reference that answers your question. Compare job families See how Service Operations and Customer Experience contribute. Understand levels and tracks Compare scope across two illustrative levels and two career tracks. Plan a development conversation Turn an expectation into an opportunity and useful evidence. Promotion Stories Employees who grew into new roles, in their own words. Returnship Program Returning to work after a career break, with structured support. Internal Mobility How internal moves work and where openings are posted. Growth Conversations Talking with your manager about where you want to grow. A responsibility can grow through its impact One example from the fictional Service Operations family. Make a handoff clearer A coordinator notices that requests often arrive without a clear next owner. They revise the handoff checklist with the team and use it on their own work. Names the information the next person needs. Checks whether the revised checklist is usable during a real handoff. Example contribution Help another team adopt it A broader contribution could include sharing the checklist with a partner team, gathering their feedback, and adjusting the guidance so it works for both workflows. Explains the change and the reason for it. Records feedback and clarifies what should happen when an exception occurs. Broader influence Job Families Two ways to improve a shared service These fictional Northstar Services families work on different parts of the same service experience. Service Operations focuses on reliable workflows and well-managed exceptions. Customer Experience focuses on understanding recurring customer needs and making guidance easier to use. The examples show typical contributions, not a complete job description or a ranking between families. Compare the work The same service issue can call for different, complementary contributions. Primary focus Keep service workflows clear, coordinated, and workable. Make customer-facing guidance and interactions clearer. Typical responsibility Review incoming work, route exceptions, and document the next owner. Review recurring questions and identify where instructions confuse customers. Example contribution Revise a handoff checklist so the receiving team can see the status and next action. Rewrite a help article so customers can distinguish a routine request from an exception. Useful collaboration Share workflow changes and exception patterns with partner teams. Bring customer feedback and draft guidance to operations partners for review. One issue, two useful perspectives Worked example: customers are unsure what happens after submitting a request. Service Operations contribution The operations colleague traces the handoff and identifies where ownership becomes unclear. They make the next owner and status visible in the internal checklist. Captures the missing handoff detail. Checks the revised checklist with the next team in the workflow. Customer Experience contribution The customer experience colleague reviews the questions people ask and revises the confirmation guidance to explain what happens next and where to find updates. Uses recurring questions to identify unclear wording. Checks the draft with an operations partner before sharing it. Role Levels and Tracks Scope grows through responsibility and contribution This fictional example uses two levels: Level 1 — Role Contributor and Level 2 — Senior Contributor . The labels are illustrative, not a universal standard. Expectations focus on the work and its impact, not tenure alone. At each level, a person may grow as an individual contributor or in a people-lead role. Both tracks contribute to good outcomes in different ways. A sample role matrix Illustrative expectations for Service Operations. Apply the same dimensions to other job families. Scope Owns assigned workflow tasks and flags exceptions. Coordinates day-to-day work and clarifies task ownership. Level 1 — Role Contributor Decisions Uses established guidance; asks for help when a case falls outside it. Helps the team apply agreed priorities and raises unresolved trade-offs. Collaboration Provides the next owner with a complete handoff. Checks that handoffs between team members have an owner and next action. Example contribution Updates an assigned case with the key status and the next step. Facilitates a short review of recurring handoff gaps and records actions. Improves a workflow across related tasks or partner teams. Supports team capability and coordinates work across a broader workflow. Level 2 — Senior Contributor Recommends a workflow change using observed patterns and partner input. Makes day-to-day coordination decisions within agreed responsibilities and escalates unresolved constraints. Brings partner teams into testing and refining a change. Coaches colleagues through the agreed process and checks whether guidance is understood. Tests a revised checklist with a partner team and documents what changed. Sets up a team review of the checklist, assigns follow-up actions, and checks completion. Two valid ways to grow The tracks are different kinds of contribution, not a preferred and secondary path. Individual contributor Deepen expertise, improve how work is done, and help others use sound guidance without taking on people-management responsibility. Explain the reasoning behind a workflow recommendation. Test a change with the teams affected. Share reusable guidance. People lead Enable team performance by coordinating work, clarifying responsibilities, and supporting colleagues' development. Make ownership and follow-up clear. Give specific feedback linked to the work. Surface obstacles the team cannot resolve alone. Questions employees often ask Can I grow without moving to a people-lead role? Yes. The individual-contributor track offers ways to increase expertise, improve work across teams, and share knowledge without making people management the goal. Does demonstrating the next level mean I will be promoted? No. Developing skills or demonstrating broader contributions does not guarantee promotion or a pay change. Any role or compensation decision depends on the organization's applicable review and decision processes. Is time in a role enough to establish level? This example describes levels through scope, decisions, collaboration, and demonstrated contribution. Time in a role can provide opportunities to build experience, but it is not the only evidence. Advancement and Development Guide Make development specific and reviewable A useful development conversation connects a role expectation to a real opportunity and observable evidence. Learning goals can support your growth whether or not a role change is available. In this fictional example, the employee is building toward broader workflow influence. The purpose is to make progress discussable, not to promise a promotion or compensation outcome. From expectation to evidence Use this sequence to prepare for a conversation with your manager. Bring a concrete example and a question about what to try next. Choose one responsibility Select a role expectation you want to practice, such as improving a handoff used by a partner team. Find a suitable opportunity Agree on a real piece of work where you can practice the responsibility, including who needs to be involved. Record what you did Note the situation, your actions, the people or teams involved, and what changed or was learned. Discuss progress and next steps Ask what evidence is useful, where your approach should improve, and what opportunity would help you develop further. Turn a broad claim into evidence Example: describe the handoff improvement clearly without claiming an unverified result. Before “Helped improve handoffs.” The action is unclear. The reader cannot see your contribution or how others were involved. Too broad After “I worked with the receiving team to revise the handoff checklist, adding a clear next-owner field and a place to record the current status. We tested the draft on routine requests and noted one exception that needed clearer guidance.” Names the change and collaboration. Describes what was tested and what still needs attention. Observable example Keep the conversation grounded What can count as evidence? A work example can describe the situation, your actions, who you collaborated with, and the observed result or learning. A revised checklist, reviewed guidance, or recorded follow-up actions can help make the example concrete. What if a role change is not currently available? Discuss which skills you can keep building in your current work, what opportunity could provide useful practice, and when to revisit the conversation. Skill development remains valuable, but it does not guarantee a future role change or pay change. How do I know whether my example meets an expectation? Compare your example with the responsibility and scope described for the relevant role family and level. Ask your manager what is clear, what is missing, and what further evidence or practice would help. Promotion Stories Promotion Stories Hear from Northstar colleagues who grew into new roles, in their own words. These fictional examples show the learning, practice, and support behind a role change. They are stories—not promotion criteria or promises of a particular career path. Three paths, told by colleagues Names, roles, locations, and story details below are fictional examples created for this template. From service desk to team lead “I started on the customer service desk at Northstar’s Lakeside store. I kept a notebook of the questions I had to solve more than once, then shared the patterns with my shift lead. When a team lead opportunity came up, I could talk about specific examples of helping teammates resolve customer issues and keeping handovers clear. The move took practice and feedback; it was not an automatic step.” Fictional example: Riley Chen, Customer Service Associate to Customer Service Team Lead. Fictional location: Lakeside store. Riley says regular feedback from the shift lead helped identify what to practice before taking on team coordination. Fictional example From production operator to quality technician “At the Northstar Cedar Plant, I became curious about why a recurring defect appeared on one product run. I learned to record the relevant process details and raise questions with the quality team instead of guessing at a cause. Training and time shadowing a technician helped me understand the work. Moving into quality meant learning a new set of responsibilities, and I still ask for help when a result is unclear.” Fictional example: Jordan Patel, Production Operator to Quality Technician. Fictional location: Cedar Plant. The learning and role-change details are illustrative, not a published Northstar qualification or process. From office coordinator to project planner “In the Northstar Harbor office, I coordinated meeting logistics and noticed that teams often needed the same schedule information in different formats. I volunteered to help maintain one shared project calendar and learned how planners track dependencies and changes. My manager gave me feedback on how I explained risks and next steps. That experience helped me prepare for a project planning role.” Fictional example: Morgan Lewis, Office Coordinator to Project Planner. Fictional location: Harbor office. The shared calendar and learning activities are story details, not a statement about Northstar’s official selection process. Find career guidance For role expectations and career-planning guidance, use the existing Career Framework Hub. Confirm its destination and connect this callout after adding the page to that hub. This page shares illustrative stories only; it does not define promotion eligibility, decisions, or timelines. Open the Career Framework Hub for the authoritative guidance on career paths and role expectations. Using and maintaining these stories Before publishing a real employee story, obtain the employee’s permission, confirm their role and location details, and preserve their words accurately. Make clear which details are the employee’s experience and which guidance belongs in the Career Framework Hub. The page owner should be the role responsible for employee communications or career content. Provide a visible way to request a correction through the organization’s established content-support route. Review a story when the employee’s role or the linked career guidance changes, or when the employee requests a correction. Confirm the owner and correction route during setup; this example does not invent a Northstar contact or review schedule. Any names, locations, role changes, and work details shown here are fictional examples, not verified Northstar employee facts. Returnship Program A supported route back into work For people exploring a return to employment after a career break—not a return from leave at a current employer. This example follows Northstar Services, a fictional organization. Its sample returnship combines scoped project work, coaching, and a conversation about possible next steps; it is an example design, not a promise of eligibility or employment. What the sample program is designed to provide These are Northstar Services' illustrative program commitments, not universal terms. A defined piece of work The participant and project lead agree a useful, bounded assignment, its expected outputs, and when to review progress. Project A named coaching role A coach helps the participant reflect on work, identify questions, and prepare for conversations. The coach does not replace the project lead. Coaching Regular work conversations The participant and project lead use agreed check-ins to clarify priorities, surface blockers, and adjust scope when needed. Coordination A transition discussion At the end of the assignment, the participant and relevant program or hiring contacts can discuss possible next steps. A discussion does not guarantee a role. Next steps How participation can work A sample sequence; actual steps depend on the organization's approved program. Explore the opportunity Read the current program information and use the organization's established channel to ask about available opportunities and the approved interest process. Discuss fit and questions Talk through the work, the support available, and questions about scope and expectations. Do not assume a role, location, or schedule is available unless confirmed. Agree the assignment and support Before project work begins, the participant and project lead clarify the deliverable, boundaries, review point, and who to contact about work questions. Agree how coaching fits alongside the project. Complete and review the work Use the agreed check-ins to review progress and raise scope questions early. At the end, summarize the work and what was learned. Discuss possible next steps The participant and relevant contacts discuss available options and timing. The conversation is not an offer or a guarantee of employment. Who does what Clear roles make the project useful without expecting one person to provide every kind of support. Participant and project lead The participant completes the agreed work and raises questions when scope or priorities are unclear. The project lead sets the work context, gives timely feedback, and agrees any changes to the assignment. Name the deliverable and what is outside scope. Agree a review point before work starts. Record decisions that change the assignment. Participant and coach The coach provides a separate space to reflect on the experience and prepare questions. The participant chooses what to raise; project decisions remain with the participant and project lead. Bring one current work question to a coaching conversation. Use coaching to prepare for, not replace, a project check-in. Ask the program contact how to raise questions that need a different handoff. Worked example: keep the first assignment bounded A fictional coordination example from Northstar Services A returning analyst and a project lead agree to map one internal reporting handoff: the point where a monthly summary moves from one team to another. They define the output as a one-page map of the handoff and a short list of open questions—not a redesign of the full reporting process. They set a review point after the first draft. The project lead checks whether the map reflects the team's current work; the participant notes uncertainties rather than guessing. In coaching, the participant prepares questions about how to request context from a second team. The project lead owns any decision to expand the assignment. Why this scope works: it gives the participant a concrete deliverable, makes the boundary visible, and creates a specific moment to review progress before additional work is considered. An illustrative participant story Fictional sample story In this fictional example, a participant starts with one clearly scoped handoff map. At the review, the project lead points out what is useful and identifies one question to investigate next. The participant takes that question to coaching, then returns to the project conversation with a clearer request for context. The assignment makes progress visible without pretending that every answer—or a job outcome—is already decided. Illustrative participant voice Northstar Services Ask about current opportunities Start with the organization's established Talent and Learning or hiring channel. The Talent and Learning program owner is the appropriate role to clarify program information and route correction or participation questions. Ask which returnship opportunities are currently open and where the approved interest process is published. Before expressing interest, clarify the assignment, available coaching, and the contacts for project questions. If a form is provided through an authorized organizational system, use it for its stated purpose and do not send sensitive personal details through an unapproved channel. Internal Mobility Explore a move by learning about the work Mobility can include a project, temporary responsibility, cross-team collaboration, or a role change. Explore the published career-portal openings below and read each vacancy’s stated audience and application instructions. This list does not represent a separate internal-only vacancy feed. For an internal move, use your organization’s established internal mobility route to confirm the process, eligibility questions, and required conversations. A development discussion or a listing on this page does not guarantee a transfer. Published career-portal openings A practical exploration sequence Name the work that interests you Identify a task or problem, such as finding patterns in recurring service issues. Compare everyday tasks with your strengths Ask what people do regularly and which parts use skills you already practice. Identify one learning gap Choose a skill or context you want to understand better before deciding what to pursue. Find an appropriate way to learn Ask about a suitable observation, shared task, or project contribution. Worked example: a useful cross-team handoff Fictional Northstar Services scenario: Service Delivery shares a recurring issue with Quality and Improvement. Issue summary Several recent requests describe confusion at the same handoff. State the recurring issue plainly; do not claim a trend from one example. Relevant context Include appropriate, non-sensitive examples and the step where the confusion appeared. Give enough context to understand the workflow without sharing unnecessary personal details. Learning question What further evidence would help determine whether these cases share a cause? Invite the receiving team to identify what information would be useful next. Questions people often ask Does sideways growth count? It can. A move into adjacent work may deepen expertise, broaden relationships, or reveal new interests without being a promotion. Do I need to feel fully ready before exploring? You can begin by learning about the work and identifying what you would need to practice. Exploration is not a commitment to apply or transfer. What if there is no relevant role listed? A vacancy list shows current listed opportunities, not every way to learn about work. Start with a task, skill, or problem that interests you, and ask your manager about a suitable learning activity. Do not treat exploration as evidence that a role is open. Growth Conversations Make room for a useful growth conversation You do not need a finished career plan. Bring a real work example, a direction you are curious about, and one question you would like to explore together. A simple conversation agenda Use the prompts that fit; the aim is a shared next step, not a perfect script. Work that energizes me Name a task or kind of problem you would like to do more often. What part of the work holds your attention? A skill in practice Bring one recent example and explain what you did. What changed for a customer, teammate, or process? A direction to explore Share an area of work, new responsibility, or skill that interests you. What would help you understand the day-to-day work? Support and review Agree what feedback or opportunity could help you learn, and when to revisit it. What is a practical next check-in point? Bring a concrete example Fictional Northstar Services example: a coordinator wants to learn whether quality-focused work is a good fit. What I will bring A recurring case-resolution example and a question about how useful issue summaries are. Describe the situation and action. Explain what the next teammate needed to know. What I will ask Could I observe a suitable quality review and discuss what I learned afterward? Ask what preparation would help. Agree how and when to review the learning. If your direction is still uncertain How can I talk about uncertainty? Say what you know so far: which tasks interest you, what you have learned from recent work, and what you would like to investigate next. Can I discuss sideways growth without naming a role? Yes. Describe the kind of work or skill you want to explore and ask about a suitable way to learn more. What if there is no opportunity immediately? Use the conversation to identify a useful next question, feedback source, or learning activity. Exploring an idea does not establish that a role is open.