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Salaries

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

23,019 openings with posted pay · 513 companies · Updated Oct 14, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Business & People Operations in AI Research: median base salary $208k · Typical range $145k–$245k · 83 openings with pay.

Business & People Ops · AI Research

83 matching openings with posted pay
1
Chief of Staff

Goodfire · San Francisco, CA · Director

$300k–$500k / year
2
Head of Recruiting, Communications, Brand, & Marketing

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$295k–$375k / year
3
Lead, Data Center Security Delivery (Construction to Operations)

Anthropic · Remote · Senior

$290k–$365k / year
4
Enforcement Operations Lead, Cloud Partners

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$285k–$330k / year
5
People Operations

Thinking Machines Lab · San Francisco, CA · Mid-Level

$275k–$325k / year
6
Head of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)

Periodic Labs · Menlo Park, CA · Director

$250k–$325k / year
7
Support Operations Lead

OpenAI · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$279k–$310k / year
8
Safety Operations Lead

Thinking Machines Lab · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$250k–$300k / year

Median base salary

$176k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$133k–$226k

25th to 75th percentile

23,019 openings with pay data across 513 companies · 51% of 45,049 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
232
$50k–$100k
2,764
$100k–$150k
4,554
$150k–$200k
6,626
$200k–$250k
4,803
$250k–$300k
2,276
$300k–$400k
1,404
$400k+
360

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,231 openings
Typical range $184k–$279k
$232k
Software & Data5,164 openings
Typical range $165k–$255k
$209k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,843 openings
Typical range $160k–$250k
$202k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,910 openings
Typical range $160k–$232k
$193k
Marketing & Design805 openings
Typical range $148k–$220k
$180k
Business Development & Customer Ops2,419 openings
Typical range $130k–$240k
$180k
Electrical & Firmware1,749 openings
Typical range $140k–$218k
$175k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance1,144 openings
Typical range $128k–$226k
$170k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,619 openings
Typical range $125k–$185k
$158k
Business & People Operations1,104 openings
Typical range $110k–$185k
$148k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,710 openings
Typical range $99k–$177k
$144k
Supply Chain & Procurement795 openings
Typical range $100k–$170k
$136k
Manufacturing & Production1,526 openings
Typical range $73k–$148k
$101k

By experience level

Intern767 openings
Typical range $60k–$95k
$73k
Entry-Level2,045 openings
Typical range $69k–$153k
$105k
Mid-Level6,210 openings
Typical range $115k–$193k
$150k
Senior9,062 openings
Typical range $160k–$230k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,957 openings
Typical range $193k–$270k
$228k
Manager1,923 openings
Typical range $147k–$235k
$185k
Director981 openings
Typical range $215k–$294k
$248k
Executive74 openings
Typical range $260k–$317k
$297k

By funding stage

Seed552 openings
Typical range $120k–$188k
$155k
Series A1,340 openings
Typical range $126k–$200k
$165k
Series B1,486 openings
Typical range $130k–$220k
$173k
Series C+14,782 openings
Typical range $143k–$235k
$185k
Public4,809 openings
Typical range $114k–$219k
$164k

By sector

AI Research1,777 openings
Typical range $215k–$353k
$281k
Compute & Semiconductors2,778 openings
Typical range $177k–$262k
$218k
AI App3,257 openings
Typical range $170k–$260k
$214k
Fintech833 openings
Typical range $143k–$246k
$194k
Robotics618 openings
Typical range $128k–$210k
$175k
Defense3,610 openings
Typical range $140k–$208k
$170k
Construction & Housing116 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$170k
Bio & Health486 openings
Typical range $128k–$219k
$168k
Public Services155 openings
Typical range $120k–$225k
$165k
Supply Chain260 openings
Typical range $114k–$207k
$163k
Energy & Climate1,653 openings
Typical range $120k–$188k
$158k
Agriculture158 openings
Typical range $113k–$167k
$158k
Transportation1,694 openings
Typical range $94k–$215k
$152k
Aerospace4,787 openings
Typical range $107k–$180k
$146k
Education36 openings
Typical range $78k–$175k
$137k
Manufacturing801 openings
Typical range $89k–$175k
$133k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic384 roles$363k
2Aaru18 roles$353k
3Thinking Machines Lab35 roles$330k
4Whop11 roles$325k
5OpenAI645 roles$308k
6Normal Computing20 roles$300k
7Goodfire13 roles$300k
8World Labs11 roles$288k
9MatX42 roles$288k
10Luma AI15 roles$288k
11Lambda88 roles$287k
12Wispr Flow30 roles$285k
13Wayve66 roles$285k
14Periodic Labs26 roles$281k
15Oxide15 roles$275k

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 51% 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 $176k per year, across 23,019 live openings at 513 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $133k and $226k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $232k median, followed by Software & Data ($209k) and Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($202k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?
Anthropic tops the list with a $363k median posted base salary, ahead of Aaru ($353k) and Thinking Machines Lab ($330k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 51% 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 23,019 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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