CompensationMay 29, 2018
BNAwtLh05

Amazon l6 sdm offer @ SEA

Could you guys share some pointers for amazon l6 sdm salary. I was told 160k base and TC of 300k by the recruiter. She said there might be some flexibility with RSU and signin bonus. What would be a good offer? I have 15 yoe in the data space with 8 yrs exp managing teams of 20+ - data analytics, big data and machine learning.

Add a comment
Amazon Frugalmya$ May 29, 2018

Closer to 450k TC is where I’d be negotiating on.

Mesosphere onsie May 29, 2018

The cap for L6 even in the Bay Area is $375k. Are you sure about these numbers?

Brocade rwang May 29, 2018

Exactly my thought. I would look to land around 350 tc in Seattle.

Amazon RBMY63 May 29, 2018

I think 240-320 or so is the range. 300 is pretty high, 280 would be the midpoint, so you raising the bar should be over that number. At 300 you’ll need a hell of a sign-on bonus due to the limited base. So approximate stock planning prices 1, 2, 3, r years out: 1851 5% 2129 15% 2448 40% 2815 40% So to get year 3 to target it means 4 is over target. To get $140k in stock that’s about 57 shares, meaning an initial grant of about 143 shares. Let’s call it 150 for calculations. 12 months, 8 shares at $1851 = $14,808 24 months 22 shares at $2129 = $46,838 30 months 30 shares at $2448 = $73,440 36 months 30 shares at $2448 = $73,440 42 months 30 shares at $2815 = $84,450 48 months 30 shares at $2815 = $84,450 Just to rough it out. This means $329k year four, $306,800 in year three. Seems fine place to start. So now bonus for years one and two to cover that gap: Year one: 160+14.8 = 174.8 Let’s target about $310k instead of $300k. This means you need $135,200 bonus to get there. Year two: 160+46.8 = 206.8 This means $103,200 bonus to hit $310k. You may be able to squeeze a little more stock out but not much with where year four is. 150 shares, $135k first year, $105k second year seems like nice round numbers to ask for. If you’re playing hardball and don’t want less than this obviously you have to go up to give them room to come down.

Facebook supichai May 29, 2018

Those stock prices are way way way too optimistic

Amazon RBMY63 May 29, 2018

That’s fine. It’s how the company does stock planning. It’s been beaten almost always, but could certainly slow down. I’m not creating numbers for fun, I am applying the 15% yoy growth expectation that the company uses for planning, and directly affects grants to get total comp.

Amazon Frugalmya$ May 29, 2018

It might depend on the org. I’ve seen examples in Alexa where we hired SDMs for well more than $300k. $400k+ is where we draw a line. In exceptional cases we can go higher as well.