Vice President Salary Negotiation: How to Negotiate a Vice President Job Offer
Whatever industry you’re in, receiving a Vice President job offer is a huge accomplishment and a huge step forward in your career. However, before you officially accept the new role, there’s still one thing you need to do: negotiate your Vice President salary.
Vice President compensation packages are usually sizable—and for good reason. Vice President jobs require a high level of leadership, management, and technical skills needed to drive companies forward. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate your SVP salary for the compensation you deserve.
In this article, we are going to show you how you can negotiate a VP or Senior VP salary to improve your total career earnings. Through our step-by-step guide, you’ll be prepared for every aspect of the negotiation, whether that be a VP Engineering salary negotiation, or any other type of VP department focus.
Don’t go through the VP salary negotiation process alone! We can help you navigate your VP or SVP benefits negotiation.
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Take our Salary Negotiation Courses or download our Salary Negotiation Templates to receive our strategies, preparing you for a Vice President salary negotiation.
Understanding the Compensation Components of a Vice President Salary
Every single successful negotiation starts with a detailed breakdown of your total compensation package. VP and SVP jobs salary packages typically include multiple different components that each need to be investigated and evaluated closely.
For example, even if your vice president engineering salary seems great, you can’t really determine how competitive it is without unpacking all its different parts. In addition to a base salary, most Vice President job offers will also include an annual performance bonus, initial equity package, sign-on bonus, and other benefits like various stipends and remote work flexibility.
While you might be tempted to only focus on the base salary of your offer, all the other compensation components play a huge role in your total earnings. As such, an effective negotiation (whether that be an SVP engineering salary negotiation or other department focus) hinges on an accurate understanding of each of these different elements.
For example, here is what the average total compensation for a Google vice president salary may look like in the initial offer:
Google VP Salary
In the following section, we will go over some of the most common Vice President salary components in more detail. These components are common for most VP level roles, whether that’s a vice president engineering salary package or any other department where you’ll be at the VP or SVP level.
VICE PRESIDENT SALARY
When it comes to your VP or SVP role and its compensation package, you’ve probably spent the most time thinking about your base salary—which is the fixed guaranteed pay that you receive in exchange for the work you do. This number won’t change based on your performance or any other external factors.
To negotiate for a higher base salary, you first need to understand how your base salary is decided. In most cases, the company you work for will have different VP and senior vice president job roles that each have different base pay ranges associated with them.
For example, the pay range for a vice president product salary would be different from the range for a vice president software engineering salary at the same company—and the same goes for roles across different companies (i.e., a Microsoft vice president salary range will differ from an Apple vice president salary range).
So why does understanding these pay ranges matter for your VP negotiation? Initial offers for VPs rarely come in at the top of their pay bands, so if you know what the base pay range for your specific role type is, you can attempt to negotiate to the top end of that range.
VICE PRESIDENT PERFORMANCE BONUS
Most Vice President compensation packages will also include an annual performance bonus.
A Vice President performance bonus is typically a percentage of your base salary that’s dependent on both your personal performance and the performance of the company you work for. So unlike a base salary which is fixed, a VP product salary bonus could go up or down depending on the targets you or your company hit.
While it’s possible that you or your company could outperform your goals and exceed the target percentage of your annual VP performance bonus, this isn’t always the case. Instead, you should assume the average bonus payout when negotiating this compensation component for your VP or SVP product salary or any other VP type role.
Vice president target bonuses are typically non-negotiable; however, that doesn’t mean that they can’t make a significant difference in your total yearly compensation when negotiating. Remember—your Vice President performance bonus is usually a percentage of your base salary, so the higher you negotiate your Vice President base salary, the higher your VP target bonus could be.
VICE PRESIDENT EQUITY PACKAGES
The next part of a vice president product management salary package, SVP Engineering salary offer, or any other VP level role to review is your equity package. Vice President equity is a highly sought-after compensation component in these types of roles.
If you receive equity in your initial offer, it could be offered as either RSUs (restricted stock units or restricted stock awards) or stock options. This grant will include a bundle of shares or options that vest over a defined timeframe (i.e., four years), called a vesting schedule.
On the bright side, VP equity packages (whether that be VP product management salary or a senior vice president engineering salary package) can make a huge difference in a VPs total compensation. However, as you know, the value of this equity can change based on the market value of the company you work for.
For example, say you secure a Salesforce vice president salary equity package—you’ll benefit if Salesforce’s share value goes up, but you’ll take a loss if their share value goes down. So when evaluating and negotiating this aspect of your compensation package, make sure to keep these fluctuations in mind. And don’t forget that if you have VP equity and leave the company before the equity vests, you risk forgoing the unvested amount.
Fortunately, we’ve found that vice president equity packages are usually negotiable for VP or SVP careers which is why we encourage you to almost always push for more equity in your negotiation.
VICE PRESIDENT SIGN-ON BONUS
for most vice president careers, you should receive a VP sign-on bonus in your job offer—it just might take some negotiating first. a vice president sign-on bonus is a one-time bonus that incentives you to join the company and can be used to cover any lost bonuses or unvested equity at your current job.
Not all companies will offer a vice president sign-on bonus initially, which is why it’s so critical to learn how to negotiate for one.
Over the years, we’ve had countless successes securing large VP and SVP signing bonuses—even when the job seeker wasn’t walking away from money at their previous job. So don’t be afraid to negotiate for a VP signing bonus even if one wasn’t extended to you initially.
Most vice president sign-on bonuses are paid in one lump sum within the first 30 days of employment. However, remember that you’ll typically need to pay the bonus back if you leave the company within your first year or other designated timeframe.
Also be aware that some companies might approach VP sign-on bonuses differently. For example, the Amazon vice president salary package includes sign-on bonuses in year one and year two—which will be paid out monthly over each year instead of in one lump sum payment.
VICE PRESIDENT EQUITY REFRESHER
The next element of your VP or SVP job offer to evaluate if there is a vice president equity refresher.
It’s possible to receive a VP equity refresher (more stock) detail in an initial offer for a Vice President role. However, in most cases, the recruiters will instead try to withhold these vice president stock refresher details. This practice is common for Facebook VP salary offers and other companies that offer this annual VP equity perk.
Recruiters usually try to withhold this information because this perk is not usually guaranteed. When negotiating, you should ask the recruiting team for more information on the amount and timeline of the VP stock refresher. Because hiring teams often refuse to share these details and they’re not always guaranteed, we don’t include this VP compensation component in our total compensation calculation.
VICE PRESIDENT BENEFITS AND PERKS
As you know, Vice President benefits and perks will look very different depending on the specific company you work for. Some of the most common benefits extended in these types of leadership roles include things like health insurance, unlimited vacation, 401k retirement programs, or even fitness memberships.
Some VP and SVPs may be offered the flexibility to work remotely or provided additional stipends, but these are sometimes negotiated if not mentioned during the interview process. Otherwise, most benefits and perks are usually non-negotiable depending on the company size.
Five Key Steps to Negotiate a Vice President Job Offer
We are finally to the part you’ve been waiting for: learning how to negotiate a vice president job offer.
Before we explain the steps for a successful vice president negotiation, it’s important to clarify that you should only follow these steps once you have an official offer in hand. Negotiating before you have received an offer can actually work against you.
We’ve proven the below negotiation strategies with hundreds of career professionals and believe they are key to a successful VP job offer negotiation. While these are the key steps to a vice president salary negotiation, we strongly recommend VPs work with a Salary Negotiation Coach to guarantee success and get all of our strategies.
1) UNDERSTAND THE COMPONENTS OF YOUR VICE PRESIDENT SALARY
This first step in the negotiation process should be a simple one since we’ve already completed it.
As a brief recap, make sure to review your vice president salary offer package for a base salary, performance bonus, initial equity grant, sign-on bonus, and any benefits and perks. There will be some slight differences between companies (i.e., is this a Meta VP Salary or Amazon VP salary) and different role levels and departments (i.e., is this a VP software engineering salary or SVP engineering salary) so understanding the different elements that make up your total compensation is critical to a successful negotiation.
You can also use our Total Compensation Calculator to calculate your VP compensation components in this step if needed.
2) COMPLETE DUE DILIGENCE ON YOUR VICE PRESIDENT JOB OFFER BY ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
The next step in the VP salary negotiation process is to start asking strategic questions. Asking the right questions can help you establish an effective Vice President salary counter while also communicating to the recruiting team that you are taking the offer seriously.
So what sort of things should you ask at the VP level? Begin by seeking clarity on any items that the recruiter may have been vague about (i.e., What is the expected VP stock refresher each year for this role?). The answers you collect will include important data points you can reference in your vice president counteroffer.
We suggest starting this phase of the negotiation right after you receive your VP job offer. And if you don’t know the right questions to ask, you can use our list of Strategic Questions to Build Negotiation Leverage.
3) RESEARCH TO IDENTIFY WHAT VICE PRESIDENT SALARY SHOULD LOOK LIKE
As we explained earlier, the salary ranges for VP and SVP roles will vary based on company, level, and department, meaning you’ll have to do some research to understand the strength of your current VP job offer and how much you should as for in your VP counter. It’s absolutely essential that your comp research is specific to your exact role type (i.e., is it an SVP product management salary or VP engineering salary) and where it’s located (i.e., is it a Vice President salary NYC or Vice President salary San Francisco), whether that be in-person, hybrid, or remote.
There are many online resources you can use in your research, such as PayScale or Comparably. However, don’t forget that the ranges on these types of sites are publicly reported by current or past vice presidents, meaning the salaries they indicate could be different from what is now offered to new VPs. Comparing pay data findings across multiple different sites can help you pull together the most accurate information. You can use our Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool to help you with your vice president compensation research and identifying the VP pay ranges.
And if you’re ever surprised by the vice president salary data you uncover, here’s something to keep in mind: in any vice president job offer you accept, you’ll ultimately be expected to manage the same responsibilities as anyone else hired for that same VP level role. Because of this, you should almost always push for at least the mid- to top-end of the total pay range for your specific Vice President role regardless of your experience or background.
4) SEND A VICE PRESIDENT COUNTEROFFER TO THE RECRUITER
Now comes the exciting part: sending over your Vice President counteroffer.
By following the first three steps above, you should now be ready to present your VP or SVP counteroffer to the recruiter by referencing your VP salary data findings and how the benefits in your offer differ from other companies and/or your current role.
We always recommend that you send a VP counter offer via email instead of over the phone. Drafting an email gives you the time and freedom to write out exactly what you want to say, and it also gives the recruiter something they can easily forward on and share internally with their team.
Whether by phone or by email, always present your vice president counter offer professionally and graciously. Remember: this is your first chance to highlight what you would be like to work alongside and how you communicate with your team. To ensure proper communication, use our Counter Offer Email Templates for examples to help you formulate a strategic VP counteroffer.
5) HANDLE ANY OBJECTIONS AND KNOW YOU ACHIEVED THE BEST VICE PRESIDENT SALARY
It’s possible that you’ll send over your vice president counteroffer and the hiring team will respond with an updated VP offer package immediately. However, it’s much more likely they will come back to you with a list of reasons why they can’t make any increases to the Vice President salary.
If this happens, don’t start panicking—this is a very normal part of the process for the vice president and senior vice president level. If you’re faced with these kinds of objections, respond professionally by stating you understand their constraints, but ask again if they could take your counter back to their team for one last look like we explain in our Objection Handling Scripts. You should still ask even if they insist their team will just say no.
Once they agree to take your thoughts back to their team, they should return with an updated and improved offer. If the new VP compensation package aligns with the pay bands you researched and meets your needs, you should be ready to send an offer acceptance email to document and lock it in!
Mistakes to Avoid During Your Vice President Salary Negotiation
There’s still one more thing we need to go over: common mistakes made during a Vice President salary negotiation. Below we’ve listed some of the top things you should make sure you avoid when you negotiate a SVP or VP role.
AVOID SHARING SALARY EXPECTATIONS BEFORE YOU GET A VICE PRESIDENT JOB OFFER
Many vice presidents are unaware that sharing your salary expectations before you receive an official offer often works against you.
Here’s how: Say you share a lower IBM vice president salary than what the company could offer. They will now be incentivized to offer you that lower vice president salary. On the other hand, if you share a number higher than what they could offer, there is a chance that they could become disinterested and choose a different VP level candidate over you who has a lower IBM VP salary expectation. During any job search or negotiation process, never forget that recruiting teams are working for the company, not you.
It also doesn’t make much sense to discuss your salary expectations—even for an Apple VP salary or Microsoft VP salary—before you learn more about the role, its total compensation package, and whether those aspects feel like a good fit for you. After all, you’re also interviewing them to see if this vice president level role is something you want to pursue, so be sure to overcome these tactics by responding like this.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO NEGOTIATE A VICE PRESIDENT SALARY
Even though it could mean increasing their total career earnings and it’s expected at this level, many Vice Presidents don’t negotiate out of fear. In many cases, they are worried about offending the recruiting team or losing the vice president job offer altogether.
However, you should know that we’ve helped facilitate hundreds of successful salary negotiations and we’ve never seen a company rescind a Vice President job offer because of an attempted negotiation. Don’t let salary negotiation myths keep you from negotiating for improved compensation.
BE REALISTIC BY DOING YOUR VICE PRESIDENT SALARY RESEARCH
Even though VP and SVP jobs are in high demand and their roles pay well, you should still be realistic about what compensation you ask for in your negotiation.
To do so successfully, make sure that your vice president salary data research is thorough and specific to your exact role so that you only push for compensation that the company can realistically provide. For example, the compensation for an Nvidia VP salary might look different than the compensation for an Amazon SVP salary.
The Bottom Line: Negotiate A Vice President Salary
At the end of the day, we believe that all Vice Presidents can and should negotiate their job offers. If you want to guarantee success in your vice president salary negotiation, get Salary Negotiation Coaching from us. Our experience helping vice presidents negotiate job offers will ensure you negotiate competitive compensation.
We also have our How to Negotiate A Job Offer and How to Negotiate Your Current Salary courses, and Salary Negotiation Scripts & Templates if you prefer to learn at your own pace and want to gain the confidence and tools to negotiate your VP compensation to maximize your earnings.