CompensationOct 4, 2019
Philipsqwertie👑

Promo to Mgr, Salary Negotiation

I am being promoted from an engineering individual contributor to an engineering manager with a staff of three to four engineers supporting new product development projects in medical devices. Current salary is $103K. Based on PayScale and conversation with recruiters, typical base for this role is $125-140K. I asked my manager (who is fully supportive of my promo) for a competitive assessment; manager agreed, but said this was also something that we don't typically negotiate on. In my mind, this is a new job with hugely increased responsibilities, and I should be paid based on industry standards for the role/my location/my internal equity (established high performer). Seeking advice on how to proceed with salary negotiation. Am I unreasonable for pushing for more? Edits: Located in San Diego, CA I have 7 years engineering experience. It isn't a question of if the promo is happening, it is locked in. I will be responsible for resource allocations, supporting 4-5 projects in addition to my own 2 projects, performance reviews, hiring/firing, coaching & development. A manager also vacated a position back in June of this year, and I have took on all of his work including managing his resources. It's my soft opening into management. Thus far, I have gotten great feedback. Business has given me a spot bonus due to increase in workload.

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Zendesk ZenDiagram Oct 4, 2019

In my experience most companies won't hire you into manager role until you have a few years under your belt. So even if that's market rate you might have trouble getting it if you start looking. That said it doesn't hurt to try, but I think your best chance for comp is crushing it with the new products and start getting performance bonuses, PSUs, etc. If not after that use the success story to get a job in a year or two with some solid wins on your resume.

Symantec GoRams Oct 4, 2019

Unless you do hands-on coding, the work you are going to remains same. What kind of increase in responsibilities are you seeing ?

SCE ThatGuy82 Oct 4, 2019

Pretty sure this is hardware. And if it is a Manager role, the responsibility increase is managing people

Uber ffku Oct 4, 2019

City?

Philips qwertie👑 OP Oct 4, 2019

I have 7 years engineering experience. It isn't a question of if the promo is happening, it is locked in. I will be responsible for resource allocations, supporting 4-5 projects in addition to my own 2 projects, performance reviews, hiring/firing, coaching & development.

Zume worstjobev Oct 4, 2019

Is all this new responsibility?

Philips qwertie👑 OP Oct 4, 2019

Other than my projects, all new responsibilities

Schneider Electric %04 Oct 4, 2019

You have pretty much zero leverage, so the company can offer you close to no real increase and you will still accept a promotion. So why to negotiate with you? Second, the objective of HR is to keep the budget flat, any significant increases happen only if you’re a highly valuable employee (high performance and high potential) with a high retention risk. Finally, only your new hiring manager + his/her boss can fight for a real increase for you, but they need strong arguments in their hands and even stronger motivation to do so.

The Krazy Coupon Lady ${user.id} Oct 4, 2019

You need another offer to get a raise

Schneider Electric %04 Oct 4, 2019

Most likely, it won’t help much, but will only hurt, cuz once he shows or even just mentions a competing offer, it’ll automatically raise a red flag and a backfill hiring will begin to “replace an employee whom we can’t trust anymore”

The Krazy Coupon Lady ${user.id} Oct 4, 2019

Not in my experience, instead it will reveal if the company cares about retaining u

Microsoft xjr1101 Oct 5, 2019

Companies usually don't give raises when you change from IC to Mgr, even if you're underpaid for your level. To get a fairer compensation, you usually have to get an offer from another company and say you're going to leave with the full intention of leaving. If they match, good, if not, continue your career elsewhere. Personally, I would just just leave and not even try to get my company to match.