We pay competitively and above the market average in order to attract the best possible talent from around the globe and reward teammates for the work that they do. We believe that having the best team will allow us to achieve our strategy and goals. We are committed to keeping compensation competitive, merit-based, and non-discriminatory, to make sure all teammates have a financial stake in the success of Sourcegraph and that strong performance is rewarded.
Pay philosophy overview
Generous: We want to pay more competitively than most companies, so we leverage aggregate data from thousands of technology companies based in zone 1 - the high cost of labor zone (using Radford salary survey data and/or external compensation experts). We then compensate all teammates at the 75th percentile of their respective salary band as a starting point. This means that teammates can expect to be paid above average while working at Sourcegraph. Salary bands are determined based on 1) role 2) level and 3) location.
- We re-evaluate our compensation ranges every 12 months, in alignment with our Impact Review Process, to ensure our compensation remains up-to-date and market competitive. This means that every 12 months, our band entry point may go up, down, or stay the same. And if our band goes down, we will never decrease our teammate’s pay.
- We believe opening up offers to negotiations can lead to inequitable and biased compensation in the long term, so we only negotiate compensation if there’s a business-critical need to do so (this requires approval by the Executive sponsor, Head of People, Head of Ops, and CEO).
- Note: the People Team owns the compensation strategy and ultimately has the right to make final band determinations when Radford (our primary data source) doesn’t align with the needs of the business.
Performance-based: We pay for performance in order to motivate and retain our teammates. We reward strong performance through merit increases, promotions, annual equity refreshes, and spot bonuses. You can read more about our merit process here. Read more about how we create a high performance culture here.
- We use our annual performance review process(aka Impact Reviews) to evaluate teammate performance, which directly influences compensation increases. This means that teammates who are considered top performers (“superior performance” or “distinguished performance”) may move up the band faster than teammates who are not meeting our high bar (“meeting” or “partially meeting” scores). Teammates who do not meet our performance expectations do not receive increases. You can read more about our performance ratings in the “Ratings definitions'' section of our Impact Review Handbook page.
- We will consider off-cycle compensation increases on an as-needed basis, based on the business need only. We do not factor in how frequently someone requests a raise; all compensation changes are based on business needs and compensation data. To make a request, a Manager must reach out to their People Partner + Head of People.
Zone-based: We have a zone-based location pay model to ensure we’re paying competitively and building the right team to be able to reach our goals fast. When a hiring manager opens a new role, they specify which locations they’re open to in the job description. To determine our compensation ranges for each zone, we identify the 75th percentile of US tech company market data in high cost of labor zones (zone 1) only, and establish this as the entry point for our zone 1 salary band. In order to simplify our compensation philosophy, we determine our other three location-based zones as a % of zone 1.
- All locations and the corresponding zone % are listed here (internal-facing document only).
- Zone 1 entry point is the 75th percentile of US technology company market data. The top of the band is set at ~15% above the band entry point. This means that our compensation band entry points are above market and competitive from the outset, with plenty of room to grow as teammates progress in their respective band.
- Zone 2 entry point is determined by taking 80% of zone 1 entry point. The top of the band is +15%.
- Zone 3 entry point is determined by taking 60% of zone 1 entry point. The top of the band is +15%.
- Zone 4 entry point is determined by taking 40% of zone 1 entry point. The top of the band is +15%.
- All internal teammates have access to the salary bands for each zone via Assemble, and all candidates have visibility into all zones via job postings on our careers page. If we are missing a country, please let us know and we’ll add it to our list.
- If you believe that we’ve assigned a location to the wrong zone or a compensation band seems wrong, please tell us by filling out this form and we will review immediately. Our aim is to always pay above average, competitively, and fairly. The People Team reserves the right to manually adjust any band at any time to benefit the business and our teammates.
Transparent: We provide visibility into all roles, levels, and location-based zones via job descriptions and Assemble. This means that every teammate can see the salary bands for all roles across the company. Salary transparency enables accountability for all compensation decisions (hiring, promotions, merit) and ensures parity across location, levels and performance.
- Teammates hired before April 4, 2024 are grandfathered in under our previous location-independent pay philosophy. This means that all teammates who applied and/or were hired before April 4, 2024 are paid under the pre-existing policy which paid everyone the same, regardless of location.
- All teammates who apply and/or are hired after April 4, 2024 are paid under our zone-based pay philosophy.
Other components of compensation
In addition to providing a competitive base salary, we offer: