sharing for the data pool. offer i received last month for a senior software engineer role (they called it Grade 8, roughly L5 at big-tech).
portland, oregon. hybrid 3 days/week. base: $162k target bonus: 15% of base (~$24k) RSU grant: $180k over 4 years (1-year cliff, quarterly after) signing: $20k one-time
total year-1 including signing: roughly $251k. years 2-4 drop to ~$231k before any refresh grants.
IMPORTANT caveat: intel RSUs at a grant price that's been volatile. model the RSU value conservatively. i ran comparables and this is 20-25% below what the equivalent SF FAANG role pays, but it's also portland, so the COL math is different.
i declined (found something better), but the offer itself was real and delivered fast once they decided.
4 replies
finance_faye
the RSU caveat is really important here. at current prices that $180k grant is worth less in real terms than it was when the same grant was made 3 years ago. always model RSUs at a range, not a single number. also check the vesting schedule in the actual offer letter, intel has changed theirs a few times.
contractor_kai
for reference i've seen Grade 9 (roughly L6/staff equiv) in Portland at around $185k base, 18% bonus target, $250k RSU over 4 years. the base jumps aren't huge between grades but the RSU pool grows more. if they level you as G8, it's worth asking whether the role scope supports a G9 conversation.
numbers_only
i actually tried to negotiate the level and they said G8 was firm for the role. didn't get a counter when i pushed on base either, just a small signing bump. intel isn't great at comp negotiation in my experience, they have bands and they stick to them tightly.
remote_swe_42
15% bonus target is higher than i expected. did they actually pay out close to target historically, or is that the optimistic scenario? a lot of companies advertise 15% and pay 8%.