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Made some adjustments to the article. Our minimum base pay for senior engineers is $125k, more than that for directors + sizable equity grants in a public compa

Made some adjustments to the article. Our minimum base pay for senior engineers is $125k, more than that for directors + sizable equity grants in a public company. Result is above market pay (in our opinion) although still less than what Google can pay. I am realizing that Agile might be much more tainted out there than I originally thought. We do Pivotal Labs/Thoughtbot style Agile, which means very strong emphasis on pair programming, TDD and CI -- but with directors given wide latitude on how to evolve process matters on their team. i've written extensively about it in my modern agile collection on medium https://medium.com/modern-agile https://medium.com/modern-agile

programd 11y ago
There's your problem. Your minimum base pay for senior engineers is far under market. Add about $40-$50K and you might get some interest.
- AlexThorn 11y ago
  Definitely. It's hard to imagine a salary of $125k/yr being competitive for senior developers or directors in NYC, whether we're talking about a startup or a billion-dollar company. Moreover, people capable of working remotely can participate in job markets (and benefit from their corresponding pay rates) not only in NYC but also places like San Francisco and Boston. From a personal perspective, when job postings mention 'competitive' pay but won't establish a baseline expectation involving concrete numbers, I generally feel safe making the assumption that the salary on offer is on the low end of average; otherwise, mentioning it explicitly would be a great differentiator.
  - obiefernandez 11y ago
    I purposely said $125k minimum since that is the lower bound of our Engineer IV salary band. What we pay for director-level is entirely based on experience (e.g. a master craftsman might make more base than I do as an SVP) That said, it is possible that we still need to pay more.
    - AlexThorn 11y ago
      > That said, it is possible that we still need to pay more. It can't hurt! One might also consider referencing a concrete salary band in the job posting. IMO, the cons from the hopeful employer's perspective (relinquishing some negotiating power) are far outweighed by the pros (setting correct baseline expectations as to both required skill level and average compensation for same).
- marssaxman 11y ago
  That does not match my experience. Is this something that has changed recently in Silicon Valley?
- davidjnelson 11y ago
  Exactly. Far, far under.
draw_down 11y ago
If that's how you like to roll, fair enough. Maybe you should poach people from Pivotal Labs then :)

programd 11y ago

There's your problem. Your minimum base pay for senior engineers is far under market. Add about $40-$50K and you might get some interest.

AlexThorn 11y ago
Definitely. It's hard to imagine a salary of $125k/yr being competitive for senior developers or directors in NYC, whether we're talking about a startup or a billion-dollar company. Moreover, people capable of working remotely can participate in job markets (and benefit from their corresponding pay rates) not only in NYC but also places like San Francisco and Boston. From a personal perspective, when job postings mention 'competitive' pay but won't establish a baseline expectation involving concrete numbers, I generally feel safe making the assumption that the salary on offer is on the low end of average; otherwise, mentioning it explicitly would be a great differentiator.
- obiefernandez 11y ago
  I purposely said $125k minimum since that is the lower bound of our Engineer IV salary band. What we pay for director-level is entirely based on experience (e.g. a master craftsman might make more base than I do as an SVP) That said, it is possible that we still need to pay more.
  - AlexThorn 11y ago
    > That said, it is possible that we still need to pay more. It can't hurt! One might also consider referencing a concrete salary band in the job posting. IMO, the cons from the hopeful employer's perspective (relinquishing some negotiating power) are far outweighed by the pros (setting correct baseline expectations as to both required skill level and average compensation for same).
marssaxman 11y ago
That does not match my experience. Is this something that has changed recently in Silicon Valley?
davidjnelson 11y ago
Exactly. Far, far under.

draw_down 11y ago

If that's how you like to roll, fair enough. Maybe you should poach people from Pivotal Labs then :)