Define the role before the number
Clarify reporting line, team size, decision rights, technical depth, commercial responsibility and whether the role is expected to build or optimize.
- Scope
- Seniority
- Leadership responsibility
Use the correct talent market
Benchmark against the companies and locations from which you realistically expect to hire. A global headline number may have little value for a specific local or remote mandate.
- Geography
- Comparable employers
- Remote or onsite model
Treat scarcity as part of the benchmark
A role that combines rare domain experience, leadership and a narrow location may price differently from a broad market role even if the title is identical.
- Availability
- Must-have combination
- Search difficulty
Update the assumption with live search feedback
Candidate expectations and response patterns during search are useful evidence. Repeated market feedback may indicate that compensation, title or scope needs recalibration.