[staunch]

If you truly have the knowledge and judgement(!) to justify a senior position, regardless of years of experience, you should have no trouble landing such a position.

There may be some companies with biases that will prevent it, but there are plenty of companies that don't care how old you are, what you look like -- just that you're really good at what you do.

But be aware that many people overestimate their abilities or undervalue the judgement that years of experience bring. There's a lot of value in having been around long enough to see things come and go. To have made lots of mistakes and learned valuable lessons. Some people really are so good that they can skip much of that, but it's very rare. The only safe bet is to assume you're not one of those people.

And I wouldn't get too hung up about titles. If someone wants to call you "Junior Dog Walker" but pays you and treats you like you want to be treated then don't worry about it.

[diminium]

How about the pigeonhole effect of linking titles with compensation?

Also, in many places, having the "Junior Dog Walker" outshine the "Lead Dog Walker" can end up being a severe career limiting move. This seems to lead to some hierarchical tensions as many people seem to want their juniors to be juniors and little more but not too much more. How is this countered?

[staunch]

There's really no substitute for good leadership. If your boss doesn't rewards and respect you for being awesome then go to a company that does. It's that simple. The good boss might give you a grandiose title or not, it shouldn't matter.

[taproot]

The thing about titles is very true often senior or junior means two very different things to different companies in this industry. Just follow the money.