I started working for Amazon less than a year ago. I got approached internally from a director that wants me to apply for an L7 position. They know I am an L6. Is this extremely rare, or would they downlevel the position if I got it?
Most likely, you will move laterally to that role at the same level but you might get promoted quickly to L7 within a year if the Director remains in charge.
Presumably the director thinks you are ready to move to L7. They will hire you into the role as an L6 and put you up for a promo after 6-12 months. That's standard operating procedure.
Most probably down level . Promotion during internal transfer needs VP/SVP approval depending on the new level .
If a Director approached me to apply for promotion, I wouldn’t be on blind to ask strangers for guidance. It’s either your work is really good and it’s been noticed by this director or you just have a fantastic relationship with the director. Nevertheless, applying for promotion shows you are interested in career advancement. I would do it.
Oh I am applying, but I was wondering if they are actually promoting or just down leveling.
What do you mean downleveling? It is gonna be same-leveling. You will move as an L6. Then they will try to promote you to an L7(6-24 months?). But that requires good body of work.