What roles pay.

Median of salary ranges for current live listings by role.

Last updated October 23, 2026, from 1,229 live roles.

Each cell is the median posted base salary, the 25th–75th percentile under it, and how many postings it comes from. Fewer than six and we print no figure. Click a cell for the roles behind it.

City

Stage

Median posted base salary, with the 25th to 75th percentile, by role and years of experience
Role	1-2 yrs	3-6 yrs	7-10 yrs	10+ yrs
Chief of Staff47 of 58 posted pay · median $201,915	—n=2	$200,000$175K–$210Kn=28	$231,065$195K–$255Kn=9	$262,500$202K–$295Kn=8
Strategy & Operations / BizOps262 of 324 posted pay · median $170,000	$107,500$93K–$138Kn=23	$155,000$130K–$175Kn=141	$193,425$168K–$223Kn=41	$226,500$210K–$250Kn=57
Strategic Finance / FP&A229 of 263 posted pay · median $171,300	$102,500$88K–$108Kn=9	$148,000$127K–$175Kn=125	$195,850$177K–$221Kn=59	$252,500$213K–$275Kn=36
Business Development / Partnerships182 of 240 posted pay · median $199,750	$117,750$90K–$168Kn=9	$166,500$133K–$200Kn=57	$197,500$163K–$228Kn=42	$234,600$196K–$272Kn=74
Revenue Operations86 of 110 posted pay · median $170,000	—n=1	$155,800$130K–$170Kn=44	$187,200$161K–$217Kn=23	$260,000$190K–$274Kn=18
Product Operations64 of 74 posted pay · median $185,000	$130,000$101K–$160Kn=8	$180,000$154K–$193Kn=28	$200,000$176K–$217Kn=13	$227,500$193K–$272Kn=15
Corporate Development44 of 57 posted pay · median $210,000	—n=1	$142,650$132K–$193Kn=16	$212,000$199K–$262Kn=15	$277,200$228K–$333Kn=12
Special Projects / Strategic Initiatives49 of 53 posted pay · median $187,500	—n=5	$182,500$160K–$188Kn=23	$191,000$188K–$200Kn=12	$217,585$193K–$240Kn=9
General Manager / Business Lead31 of 45 posted pay · median $205,000	—	—n=2	—n=3	$205,000$180K–$240Kn=26
All roles997 posted pay · median $180,000	$117,750$96K–$147Kn=60	$158,500$130K–$185Kn=464	$197,500$175K–$225Kn=218	$230,000$195K–$266Kn=255

Banking pay vs operating pay.

Published all-in banking pay (base plus bonus, New York, large banks) beside the board's median posted base salary for the years band that seat applies into. Operating roles usually add equity on top of base, which postings rarely put a number on.

Published banking pay by seat beside median operating base salary
Banking seat	Typical all-in, as published	Operating base, same years
Analyst, year 1	$180K–$220K IB Interview Questions, 2026$170K–$190K Wall Street Prep, updated Nov 2024	$117,750$96K–$147K1-2 yrs · n=60
Analyst, year 2	$210K–$265K IB Interview Questions, 2026$185K–$205K Wall Street Prep, updated Nov 2024	$117,750$96K–$147K1-2 yrs · n=60
Analyst, year 3	$200K–$270K Mergers & Inquisitions, 2025$250K–$320K IB Interview Questions, 2026	$158,500$130K–$185K3-6 yrs · n=464
Associate, year 1	$275K–$375K IB Interview Questions, 2026$240K–$270K Wall Street Prep, updated Oct 2024	$158,500$130K–$185K3-6 yrs · n=464
Associate, year 2	$275K–$440K eFinancialCareers, 2026$350K–$450K IB Interview Questions, 2026	$158,500$130K–$185K3-6 yrs · n=464
Associate, year 3	$400K–$500K IB Interview Questions, 2026$320K–$450K Wall Street Prep, updated Oct 2024	$158,500$130K–$185K3-6 yrs · n=464
Vice President	$525K–$800K Mergers & Inquisitions, 2025$500K–$650K eFinancialCareers, 2026	$197,500$175K–$225K7-10 yrs · n=218

IB Interview Questions, “Investment Banking Salary & Bonus: Analyst to MD Compensation” (2026 figures; Bulge-bracket banks, New York, base plus bonus). Checked 2026-10-18.
Wall Street Prep, “Investment Banking Analyst Salary Guide” (2024 figures, updated Nov 2024; New York, base plus bonus). Checked 2026-10-18.
Mergers & Inquisitions, “2026 Investment Banker Salary and Bonus Report” (2025 figures; Large banks, New York front office, base plus year-end bonus; the source calls its Analyst 3 range a rough estimate). Checked 2026-10-18.
Wall Street Prep, “Investment Banking Associate Salary Guide” (2024 figures, updated Oct 2024; New York, base plus bonus). Checked 2026-10-18.
eFinancialCareers, “Investment banking pay in 2026: $500k for 28-year olds on Wall Street” (2026 figures; US banks, salary plus bonus, from the Prospect Rock Partners 2025 compensation survey). Checked 2026-10-18.

Questions bankers ask

What does a chief of staff earn with 3-6 years of experience?

The median posted base salary for chief of staff roles asking for 3-6 years is $200,000, with the middle half between $175K–$210K, from 28 live postings that published a full range. Figures are base salary, before any equity or bonus.

What do operating roles pay a banking analyst with 1-2 years of experience?

Across every operating role on the board, the median posted base salary for 1-2 years is $117,750, with the middle half between $96K–$147K, from 60 live postings that published a full range.

Which operating role pays the most?

Corporate Development, with a median posted base salary of $210,000 across all experience levels, from 44 live postings with a full range. Senior seats pull every role's median up, so compare at your own years band in the table above.

How does operating pay compare with a first-year banking associate's?

A first-year associate typically makes $240K–$375K all-in across IB Interview Questions and Wall Street Prep. The median posted base salary for operating roles asking for 3-6 years is $158,500 (464 postings). That is base only: most operating roles add equity and some a bonus, which postings rarely state.

Do these roles come with equity?

Usually. Of 1,229 live roles, 901 mention equity, though very few state a figure. The equity section below lists the published benchmarks we could verify and what to ask.

Equity.

Of 1,229 live roles, 901 mention equity and 16 give a figure. Every role page says what its posting says, and when it says nothing, whether the company's other roles suggest you should expect equity.

Published benchmarks

The only public figures we could check for these roles, quoted as published, in percent of the company. Nothing public covers manager- and director-level roles at Series A or later, or any role at Series C or later, so we don't estimate those.

Published equity grant benchmarks, with sources
Hire	Grant and source
VP-level executive grant at Series ARecommended new-hire option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US and Europe. Index says finance and HR VPs sit at the low end of this range.	0.3–0.8%Index Ventures, 2018
VP-level executive grant at Series BRecommended new-hire option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US and Europe. Index says finance and HR VPs sit at the low end of this range.	0.2–0.7%Index Ventures, 2018
C-level executive grant, Series A and B startupsRecommended new-hire option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US and Europe. Index calls 1% typical for each non-founding C-level role.	0.8–1.5%Index Ventures, 2018
Junior, Business Development, US seed-stageAverage option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US seed-stage startups (VCECS Seed Data from Advanced HR, 2018). Business Development is the closest published function; there is no operations or finance column.	0.05% averageIndex Ventures, 2018
Mid-level, Business Development, US seed-stageAverage option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US seed-stage startups (VCECS Seed Data from Advanced HR, 2018). Business Development is the closest published function; there is no operations or finance column.	0.1% averageIndex Ventures, 2018
Senior, Business Development, US seed-stageAverage option grant, % of fully diluted equity, US seed-stage startups (VCECS Seed Data from Advanced HR, 2018). Business Development is the closest published function; there is no operations or finance column.	0.35% averageIndex Ventures, 2018
SVP, VC-backed companies, all stagesMedian initial equity grant, % of total equity, VC-backed companies on Carta. All funding stages together; Carta does not split this figure by stage.	0.36% medianCarta, 2026
VP, VC-backed companies, all stagesMedian initial equity grant, % of total equity, VC-backed companies on Carta. All funding stages together; Carta does not split this figure by stage.	0.17% medianCarta, 2026
Non-founder C-level, VC-backed companies, all stagesMedian initial equity grant, % of total equity, VC-backed companies on Carta. All funding stages together; Carta does not split this figure by stage.	1% medianCarta, 2026

What to ask before you accept

What percentage of fully diluted shares is the grant? A share count alone tells you nothing.
What was the last post-money valuation, and when?
What is the preference stack: how much was raised, and is it 1x non-participating?
What is the strike price (the 409A value) against the last preferred price?
What is the vesting schedule and cliff?
Is there a refresh policy, and how are refreshes sized?
How long is the exercise window after you leave?
Can you exercise early?

How we read it: a figure counts when the employer puts it in its compensation field or states it next to the word equity in the posting. "Private equity", "pay equity" and similar phrases are ignored. A company's stage comes from its own postings ("we raised our Series B"). Benchmarks checked against their sources on 2026-10-06.