Need some honest opinions here— left grappling through this.

I am interviewing for a lower level management position at the company I am currently an employee of. Originally I had applied for another position, but after reviewing my resume they felt my skill set would be better suited for another opportunity, equally exciting to me. The role has been open for at least 6 months.

To date, I have had: 1) HR phone screening call 2) Hiring Manager Interview (or so I thought) 3) Regional Account Exec Interview 4) National Manager Interview 5) Exec Sales Manager Interview

I feel that I have crushed these interviews and have been provided with feedback at the end of these interviews that reflects this. All agree that I am a great fit for the role, not to mention probably one of very few (if not the only) applicants.

I had been told, but maybe I misunderstood, that the 5th interview was the final round. However, at the conclusion of that interview the interviewer shared that next steps would be one or two more interviews. I was also told that the original gentleman who I thought would be the hiring manager is not the hiring manager, it’s another individual who I will interview with next.

All interviews have been an hour long, with the initial screening being 30mins. Great conversations, but we have just arrived at the point where I’ve learned everything to know about the position and I feel like a broken record having to answer a lot of the same questions.

Important situational background: this position and it’s potential compensation would be an answered prayer for my family who took a heavy pay cut in search of a better work/life balance, which is why I am desperately trying to hang on to this.

What do you think is happening here?