Here are the heuristics we use in determining what level someone is at. This is meant to recognize people who motivate, rally the troops, improve morale, and provide leadership beyond their normal level. It doesn't go beyond level 12 because level 12-15 should be doing this anyway. We don't care too much about degrees, because they don't correspond all that well with skills for software engineers. A lot of newly-minted PhDs are sorely lacking in practical software engineering experience that some BAs with one year experience may have.
Most people fall into four rough categories based on the type of work the are doing.
These categories are quoted from Chapter 2 in O'Malley . Level 14 or 15. Level 12-13 Operational. Level 11-12 Executional. Level 9 -10 Learning.