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Business & People Operations salaries

What companies building the future pay, straight from their own job postings.

1,413 openings with posted pay · Updated Nov 1, 2026

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Business & People Ops

1,413 matching openings with posted pay
1
Chief of Staff

Goodfire · San Francisco, CA · Director

$300k–$500k / year
2
Senior Director Business Operations

Polymarket · New York, NY · Director

$350k–$450k / year
3
Head of People

Periodic Labs · Menlo Park, CA · Director

$350k–$450k / year
4
Senior Director/ VP, People Operations

Verkada · San Mateo, CA · Executive

$280k–$420k / year
5
Head of Learning & Development and Culture

Waymo · Mountain View, CA · Director

$334k–$411k / year
6
SVP of Operations

Verse Medical · New York, NY · Executive

$270k–$400k / year
7
Head of People

Exa · San Francisco, CA · Director

$250k–$400k / year
8
Head of Talent

Wispr Flow · San Francisco, CA · Director

$250k–$400k / year

Median base salary

$147k

1,413 openings with posted pay

Typical range

$113k–$183k

25th to 75th percentile

Across all 26,339 openings with posted pay, the median is $175k. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Business & People Operations by sector

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI Research99 openings
Typical range $150k–$240k
$208k

By role

All openings · Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,580 openings
Typical range $180k–$283k
$230k
Software & Data3,853 openings
Typical range $171k–$256k
$215k
Typical range $160k–$250k
$200k
Typical range $163k–$238k
$195k
Typical range $135k–$248k
$185k
Marketing & Design1,037 openings
Typical range $150k–$225k
$183k
Electrical & Firmware2,226 openings
Typical range $146k–$216k
$177k
Typical range $128k–$228k
$170k
Typical range $130k–$189k
$160k
Typical range $113k–$183k
$147k
Typical range $110k–$180k
$145k
Typical range $98k–$176k
$140k
Typical range $79k–$155k
$117k

Methodology

All figures come from salary ranges companies publish on their own job postings, pulled from their applicant tracking systems hourly. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

Pay in other currencies is converted at fixed recent exchange rates. Hourly, weekly, and monthly pay is annualized. Everything is base salary only. Equity and bonus are excluded because postings rarely quantify them.

Stats are medians and quartiles of each posting's range midpoint, weighted by open roles. Groups with fewer than 30 openings (8 for a single company) are not shown.

Numbers reflect currently open roles, not historical offers. About 57% of tracked openings post pay. US pay-transparency laws drive most disclosure, so coverage skews to US roles. Explore hiring patterns in the hiring report.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median salary at companies building the future?
The median posted base salary is $175k per year, across 26,339 live openings at 530 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $225k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $230k median, followed by Software & Data ($215k) and Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($200k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?
MatX tops the list with a $394k median posted base salary, ahead of Aaru ($353k) and Anthropic ($345k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 57% of the openings BuildList tracks post a pay range. Disclosure is highest at US companies covered by pay-transparency laws, so coverage skews to US roles.
Where does this salary data come from?
From the pay ranges companies publish on their own job postings, pulled hourly from their applicant tracking systems and normalized to annual base salary. Equity and bonus are excluded. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

These numbers come from 26,339 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.