Got an offer recently for Senior Software Engineer (their internal band is roughly equivalent to L5 at big tech). Sharing numbers since I couldn't find anything recent when I was benchmarking.
Role: Senior Software Engineer, Digital/E-Commerce team Location: Memphis, TN (hybrid, 3 days on-site) Base: $118,000 Bonus: 10% target annual bonus (performance-based) RSU: $40,000 over 4 years (cliff at 1 year, quarterly after) Total comp (Year 1 estimate): ~$130k including expected bonus
Notes: no signing bonus offered. i asked, they declined. the RSU grant is on the lower end but the refresh cadence is okay if you stay past the cliff.
By Memphis cost-of-living this is solid. by national SWE standards it's mid. if you're coming from a FAANG or late-stage startup, expect a meaningful step down. negotiate the base if you can, they have some room there.
4 replies
hardware_hugo
curious how the actual RSU vesting works in practice. a 4-year grant with 1-year cliff and then quarterly is standard on paper but the question is whether the refresh grants are actually competitive or just enough to keep you from leaving.
numbers_only
refresh grants are annual, and my understanding is they're smaller than the original. the people i talked to internally said year 3 and 4 is when the math starts to favor staying, not year 1-2. depends a lot on your personal situation.
quietquit_quincy
$118k base in Memphis is actually pretty good. people forget COL math. that's probably equivalent purchasing power to $175-185k in SF. not FAANG money but not poverty either.
market_realist
the no-signing thing is annoying but not surprising for a company like FedEx. large logistics companies treat comp as structured and non-negotiable in ways that tech companies usually don't. worth asking once and then dropping it.