User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 542 - THE BLADE IS ME/@comment-5847836-20130619182602/@comment-8669536-20130620155404

I Think Uryū might have a position that is equal in power to the Stern Ritter, or above them, but I think his uniform is too different compared to the Stern Ritter uniform to be one of them.

Quilge was a high ranked Quincy who had been assigned a letter and he stated that Uryū's Heilig Pfeil should be stronger than his, so I think we can assume that Uryū is powerful enough to be of Stern RItter rank or above from the start.