Would someone be able to spend a few minutes and explain me how the Grade System works at Cisco. Thank you in advance!
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Mostly correct here.
There are some other grades, like 89/90 for Principle/Distinguished engineer. Codes above 12 (13,14,89,90) are often considered Executive level.
Salary is determined by Grade, Location, and Comp Plan. Services and Operations share the same Comp Plan - CORP - so grade 10 in Ops is the same salary range as grade 10 in Services. But some CORP plan Roles have things like car allowances.
Sales/BDMs have most of the non-CORP codes. Most of the company is on CORP though (services, IT, engineering, etc). Non-CORP codes are very complicated. Almost all sales roles earn more than the same CORP grade. Some earn a LOT more. A few earn less, but have HUGE variable portions based on hitting/exceeding targets.
13 = director
14 = Sr director
Grade 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ... Grades above 14 are for executives (VP, SVP, CFO, CEO)
Cisco grades are determined by your relationships. Lost the company millions? Destroyed a few organizations? This will constitute a promotion if you have the proper relationships. There is a reason Cisco does not conduct performance reviews, we are not a performance based company.
Salary is determined by your Department, Location, and Grade. A Grade 10 in Operations can earn less than a Grade 8 in Services.