I was a civil servant. The hiring bands were pretty wide well defined there, at least for technical specialists like yours truly. The 50-60% of max range is considered developmental and would normally be given to an internal candidate who was being groomed as part of a succession plan. 60-80% is the sweet spot, and they will go to 90% for an exceptional candidate. Only once in my career did I negotiate 100% of max - and it was because I was taking a pay cut in the new role. I was changing jurisdictions because I was ( and still am) in love.