Salary Benchmarking Template
Operations & HR Finance
Quick Answer
Describe the role, location, and company context. Paste into Claude or ChatGPT. Get a market salary range with positioning recommendation and total compensation strategy.
What You Get
A salary benchmarking analysis covering market salary range for the role, positioning recommendation within the range, total compensation strategy, equity component guidance for startup roles, and a framework for communicating compensation decisions to candidates and employees.
Who Is This For
Hiring managers setting offer ranges, HR teams conducting annual compensation reviews, and startup founders building their first compensation framework.
About This Template
Salary benchmarking is essential for attracting and retaining talent without overpaying. This template guides hiring managers and HR teams through describing the role, location, company stage, and compensation philosophy, then uses AI to produce a market benchmarking analysis with salary range recommendations, competitive positioning assessment, and total compensation strategy guidance.
Fill In Your Details
e.g. Senior Software Engineer, Marketing Manager, Financial Analyst
e.g. San Francisco CA, New York NY, London UK, Remote US
e.g. 3-5 years, senior (7+ years), manager level
e.g. B2B SaaS, Fintech, E-commerce, Healthcare tech
e.g. 50th percentile cash with equity upside, 75th percentile to compete with FAANG, below market cash offset by generous equity
e.g. 0.1-0.25 percent options for senior IC, or no equity at this stage
Gather these details then use them to fill in the prompt below.
AI Prompts
Generate salary benchmarking analysis
Paste this prompt into Claude or ChatGPT with your role details filled in.
You are an HR compensation consultant benchmarking salaries for a specific role. Using the information below, produce a market benchmarking analysis. Role: [role_title] Location: [location] Experience: [experience_level] Company stage: [company_stage] Industry: [industry] Comp philosophy: [comp_philosophy] Equity: [equity_available] Produce: 1. Market Salary Range — 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile base salary for this role, location, and experience level based on current market data 2. Positioning Recommendation — where in the range to position given the company stage and philosophy 3. Total Compensation Analysis — base plus bonus plus equity value at different outcomes 4. Competitive Assessment — how this compensation compares to likely competing offers 5. Equity Guidance — if equity is available, how to present its value honestly to candidates 6. Offer Strategy — how to structure and present the offer to maximize acceptance probability 7. Red Flags — any compensation decisions that would be market-unfair and create retention risk Note: salary ranges are estimates based on general market knowledge. Recommend verifying with current data from Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Radford, or Carta before making offers.
Sample Output
This is an example of what AI produces when you use this template.
Market Salary Range
Senior Software Engineer in San Francisco with 5-7 years experience at a Series A SaaS company. Estimated market range based on current data: 25th percentile $155,000, 50th percentile $185,000, 75th percentile $220,000. The range is wide because Series A companies compete with both early-stage startups (lower cash, more equity) and growth-stage companies (higher cash, less equity upside). A well-funded Series A competing for strong engineers should target $175,000-$195,000 base to be competitive without overpaying relative to your current team structure. Verify these figures at Levels.fyi for engineering roles before making offers — the market moves quickly.
Offer Strategy
Lead with total compensation, not just base. At $185,000 base plus 0.15 percent options on a $20M post-money valuation, the current option grant is worth $30,000 today and potentially $300,000-500,000 at a successful Series B exit. Present this as a total compensation story: $185,000 cash plus $300,000-500,000 in potential equity upside for a 4-year commitment. Most candidates at FAANG earn higher cash but with minimal equity upside — this is your competitive angle. Do not lowball and then negotiate up — it signals poor compensation philosophy and candidates talk to each other.