[DRW] back office dev 165k TC vs. Stay at big bank capital markets 175k counter
Location: Canada
YOE ~ 5
DRW
- Base salary: $145K
- Target bonus: $20K
- Sign-on bonus: $10K
- First-year total compensation: ~$176K
- TC after counter: $175K
- Retain unvested stock: ~$30K
I'm having a hard time evaluating these offers because the compensation isn't the whole story.
The dev role at DRW is on an internal data pipeline team in the Montreal office. I've been told compensation progression is fairly slow (around 2–3% raises), bonuses don't grow much, and the work is generally considered more of a back office function than a revenue-generating engineering role.
At current workplace, I already know the team and have excellent work-life balance. I am not scared of taking a counteroffer either at my place so that's not an issue for me.
A few questions:
- Does DRW's brand name outweigh the lower expected long-term compensation and slower progression?
- Would taking a role at a top trading firm open more doors than staying in capital markets at a Canadian bank?
- Is there meaningful resume value from having DRW on my CV, or is that mostly true for front-office/revenue-generating teams?
