Market comp for strategy / corp dev roles (NYC)
3rd year associate at a corporate strategy / corporate development group in NYC. Coming up on 5 yoe with a mix of non traditional jobs across PE and short stint in IB pre corporate. Been chatting with friends and starting to feel like I may be underpaid relative to market, but wanted to collect some data points before going into comp discussions this summer.
Base: $136k currently, presumably increasing to $150k following promotion
Bonus: 10% of base, probably moving to 15% of base (potentially flat)
TC: $145k currently, bumping up to $165k-172.5k this summer
Other perks: fully remote, chill hours (30-40 typically), 4-5 weeks of PTO
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some relevant data points for strategy and corporate development roles in NYC:
Base Salary:
Bonus:
Total Compensation (TC):
Other Perks:
Key Takeaway:
While your current compensation is slightly below market, the expected increase this summer would bring you closer to being competitive. However, if you feel underpaid, you could leverage these data points to negotiate for a higher bonus percentage or additional equity/stock options to align with the upper end of the market range.
Sources: The Other Road: Corporate Development Associate Fielding Questions, Post MBA Corp-Dev/Strat, Corp Dev Salary Packages, The most laid back Corporate jobs for those of us without C-suite aspirations?, Exiting Investment Banking to Corp Fin / Corp Strat / Corp Dev
bump
Delete
Delete
bro forgot to switch to one of his 109325398 other burners
Audit manager makes more or less the same amount. This salary is just so fkin low...
That's how roles outside of IB and the buyside comp. Did you actually think finance was a good career choice outside of that? lol
Bump. Perks look good
For NYC, low. For remote, in line.
Thanks, I figured. What's a more typical TC package for someone with 5 YOE / senior associate level?
Would think 5 YoE is roughly manager 1 equivalent, think range for that should start at ~180k comp in NYC, and can go pretty high for certain PE Portcos and/or start-ups depending on potential option allocations. I know you are pretty close to 180k right now, but would kind of think of it as the lower-end of a fairly wide range and also would be thinking at 5 YoE you should probably be targeting a ~manager or so rank, think 5-6 years is typically when people enter into middle management type roles in their career.
With all that being said: look you are still earning phenomenal money compared to the average person in this country and even better when held relative to other's your age. 5 YoE post-grad means you are 26-27, last I checked online for this you are in the top 1-2% of all income earners for your age, which is impressive and more importantly you are on a meaningful trajectory to a job with even better comp whilst maintaining chill hours in the future!
People on this forum are going to say this is underpaid, but unfortunately this is at market for corporate roles. There's a weird amount of misinformation on this forum about corporate because it's not standardized in comp like IB/PE, and there's also survivorship bias from the people getting these 250K+ all-in at SF startups
For context, I know people with the same YOE from IB in corporate getting less. It's a shocker for the people out of touch or who drink the kool-aid of finance actually being a good career path in 2025, but newsflash outside of IB/PE/HF/ER and other adjacent buyside roles, you will not be comped well in finance relative to other professional fields
OP here - thanks for the response.
I think what many people don't account for is the meaningful difference in $s per hour and the insane lifestyle upgrade that results from moving to a corporate role. When I was in PE/IB, it was pretty typical to only take 1 full week of vacation (5 business days) + a handful of long weekends throughout the year. Almost all of those long weekends were blown up with some form of work, so the only real periods of unplugging were around the 4th of July, Christmas, and that 1 week of PTO.
At my last job, I remember a VP having to ramp up on a deal while he was with his dad for his 70th birthday (his only PTO for the year outside of long weekends). He was plugged in most days from his hotel room, and was taking QoE calls on a boat right before they went scuba diving. After seeing similar situations play out a number of times, it dawned on me that I did not want to be abused in exchange for dollars. Maybe I just didn't find the right team, or I had shitty group culture, but that seemed like the standard lifestyle in NYC.
By comparison, my team right now unplugs for the last 2 weeks of December, plus we have an unlimited vacation policy that typically results in another 3-4 weeks of PTO throughout the year. I have the flexibility to travel whenever I want / wherever I want. I work max 50 hrs per week and have yet to work a single weekend in 2 years with my current firm.
I sometimes wonder if I should be spending my 20s grinding on the partner/MD/whatever track, but I also really appreciate getting to travel and see the world while getting paid more than almost anyone I know from my blue collar hometown.
I guess you just have to decide what you're optimizing for. If it's cash comp, IB is solid. Slightly lower cash comp with enormous deferred long-term upside, PE is great. For me right now, I value having time with friends and family, traveling the world, and doing things outside of work that I enjoy. Longer term, I'd like to find something with a higher comp trajectory and stronger skill development that a remote role can't provide - I just have yet to find something that has a good tradeoff between WLB and comp. Always seems like you need to sacrifice one of the two for the other.
If you don't mind me asking, how have you been able to cultivate such amazing WLB and hours? Is it company specific or is corporate strat / dev usually this chill with some weeks getting to the 50-60 range? Last questions, what are some things I should due within my due diligence to get a sense of true working hours (besides connecting on LinkedIn and doing that sort of diligence).
Think it's the opposite tbh. I think forums like these drastically understate the wealth-building opportunity in corporate finance roles, particularly at senior levels, especially at either private companies or younger companies. People who are often leading corp dev, strategy, FP&A, etc. Some of these places get multi-million dollar management option contracts as well as what remains the top 1% pay (relative to the country) whilst typically being in their late 30s/early 40s. Finance still pays extremely well across all levels relative to YoE either way, but equity upside in corporate finance truly can be meaningful, especially in the MM portco and start-up world, where there is a very real chance for high multiple returns.
No offense, but no one in this generation wants to wait until their 40s to get rich. Times have changed (not for the better). To much social media rot, cost of living has gone out of control for white collar workers (outside of IB/PE) compared to any other point in the last 40 years, social expectations are higher, women's expectations are higher (not to sound like some incel but the truth), and 120K base in a HCOL with corporate level bonuses is hardly staying afloat.
The only good thing (if anything) in IB is that there's no bullshit on comp and promotion timelines. You can be rich at 35 theoretically if you just hate yourself enough and stick it out (easier said than done obviously.) No ambiguity on next steps. Either you get promoted every single year or are out. I'll take that any day over praying that there's enough room in the corporate budget (you're a cost center in corporate) and hoping that one of these years will be promoted or that the person ahead of you finally leaves.
Late to the party here, but as a datapoint, I'm a L5 in corp dev @ FAANG (which is kinda where you'd come in at), and TC comes out to roughly 450k. Just goes to show how variable the comp can get, at different firms
That seems really high but a sweet deal for you. I interviewed at AMZN CDF a few months ago and they were offering $150k TC for a senior analyst role (right before manager). Does the comp really jump that much after the manager promotion? Or is L5 equivalent more senior than a Y1 manager
That seems slightly low for Amzn, but I was coming in with some very solid experience so had quite a bit of negotiating leverage (which is a big thing in CD), and had multiple offers so could leverage that. My original offer was quite a bit lower, but I managed to get it bumped significantly. Most firms quote you a lower amount than they're capable of paying.
Also, Amzn isn't the only firm paying the big bucks, I'd rank them as 1. Alphabet, 2. Meta, 3. Amazon, 4 Apple as the most likely to pay those amounts (amazon front loads equity tho). Ofcourse, there are other like atlassian but those aren't FAANG
Amazon isn’t getting close to 450k for L5 finance roles
This sounds like Netflix comp or some weird equity math (appreciation) in a FB / Google offer
This is complete horseshit. If you're a prospect please don't listen to blatant lies like this. Even if by some miracle it's truthful, these kind of datapoints are useless. There's thousands of banking analysts every year and maybe 10 of these spots.
Well yeah no shit there's a very very very limited number of spots that pay as much and it's unrealistic for 99.9% of everyone, but how does that make it useless? There's no shortage of ppl on this forum posting about Elliott & Pershing, which are arguably worse when it comes to acceptances, and y'all eat that shit up. I feel like there's a notion that CD is a "discount" financial career that doesn't pay well, which is true, but there are still firms that pay very very well (unicorns, big tech etc).
And for prospects on here, one distinction to make is that CD careers (especially at higher levels) give you a lot of stock options. The base might be like 100-200k for managers, but the options are what carry the real weight. My base isn't anything to write home about, but the options are.
Hey, would love to know what your rough career path / timeline was to establish yourself and earn 450k TC? I'm starting off in IB (top EB)
With banking + PE experience, $200+ TC if you pick the right opportunities. 160-200 base + bonus depending on your negotiating position.
Of course the “average” corporate role pays materially less. You’re not an average candidate. There aren’t a shitton of roles out there with decent WLB and >$200K TC at your level, but there’s a good amount. You just have to be deliberate and be proactive at finding the ones that value what you can bring to the table.
Damn sounds like I'm woefully underpaid then. Not incredibly surprised by that though.
Part of the issue is that I could technically work from anywhere. I could live in Dallas where my comp this year would be more competitive (150 + 10-15% bonus). For NYC, it's not competitive.
Either way, I'm considering an MBA next year to either go back to IB and then return to a pure corp dev role (ie no strategy) at a director level, or try to recruit directly for other corp dev roles at companies where there's a clear need for corp dev + structured training program (Salesforce, FAANG, etc). I'm at a company currently where M&A is not prioritized, and I'm not really interested in the corporate strategy work I've been involved in so I'm looking to make a move sooner rather than later.
You aren’t really underpaid…the people on this site are just delusional
I think this is right. I have enough data points in Dallas to say this is “normal” for 5 YOE.
bump
Late to this thread, but figured I'd add my comp trajectory as a datapoint:
1.5 yoe (MBB exit): corp strat associate at PE PortCo (HCOL city), ~155k TC (130k base + 20% bonus)
Now, at 4 yoe (got promoted to senior associate at the same firm): ~180k TC (150k base + 20% bonus)
I have gotten interviews for roles paying slightly more than I'm making currently. My ideal next step is a manager level role at ~170k base.
My advice would be to start looking and see what you can find. You're worth what the market says you're worth.
From my research and experience, someone with 5 yoe and demonstrated success (top firms, promotions, etc...) can probably find something at 200k TC in corp strat (not sure about corp dev). Not all firms will value your skillset equally, so be prepared for some crazy lowballs (a firm I interviewed at when at MBB was quoting me at 80k, completely unaware that the MBB base was 100k...).
Voluptatibus earum quis odit labore sunt earum molestiae. Ut est enim atque commodi. Qui delectus veritatis sint dolor. Et nam qui officiis delectus quod. Perspiciatis ullam non temporibus odio.
Cum dolores sed rem odio eum. Consequatur pariatur ut autem autem aut earum veritatis. Inventore quo voluptatem dolore similique quo odio molestiae. Molestiae harum amet ut quia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ut sunt quis fuga fugit adipisci. Culpa sit facilis laudantium nostrum nihil sint amet.
Iste repellendus expedita sed ratione nisi consequatur. Dolorum provident qui soluta. Repudiandae eum aliquam vero quod dolor. Necessitatibus praesentium earum possimus.
Reiciendis voluptates sit voluptas non laborum pariatur nemo. Voluptas ut esse quod ratione magnam. Nisi provident delectus atque qui distinctio commodi.
Eius eligendi cupiditate provident iusto quos quia delectus neque. Ab molestias consequatur corporis quas aut et. Dicta qui fuga deleniti error. Iure perferendis iure saepe ut ipsum maiores consequatur ut. Aut repudiandae sequi id quis. Et vel qui est dicta.