>>> without the staff level title or pay.
Just because they want the candidate to be a lead, but won’t give staff level pay, is not a reason to reject a job imo.
I was told, more or less: "We don't think you're qualified for level X, but we still want to hire you into this specific specialized role we advertised as level X, doing all the same specialized work, with all the same expectations and requirements, at level X-1. We pinky promise you we'll promote you quickly because we are confident you are already qualified to handle these level X responsibilities, even though you're not qualified to be level X yet".
That reads like something straight out of McSweeney's.
Usually reqs at Google are for two levels. So a manager can hire a lead, and it can either be senior or staff. G has strict perf requirements so people are much quicker to downlevel and then promote vs. hire at L6 and then fire.
Others try for staff and they get senior, which has a wide pay band and can sometimes pay as much as lower staff offers. So calling it a "bait and switch" isn't really accurate at all.
The people who decide your level are not the hiring manager or the interviewers too.