What does "promoted" look like for an software engineer at large tech companies? In my company you're either an individual contributor or tech lead. There aren't really any other rungs on the ladder without going to manager.
Edit: pretty sure I was off by one originally. But you get the idea: it’s a triangular organization with a lot of people at the base.
You can hide your level such that other people don’t see it, which is another difference between Google and my current company where people introduce each other by their titles, which makes me want to quit every time. Nobody at Google has ever said “And now I’d like to turn the meeting over to Principal Engineer Jane Doe”. Most people don’t mention it.
Pure engineering skills (even the thought leadership aspect of it) doesn't directly translate in management skills and often people get "rewarded" by promoting them to a position where they can no longer use the very skills they have been promoted for.
Related concept / good read: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle
This obviously goes hand in hand with higher pay and increased role and input. In general you might lead others from principal engineer upwards.