Home Resources Promotion Tiers and Philosophy

Promotion Tiers and Philosophy

This resource outlines compensation bands and promotion criteria for all members of the CS&S Core Team.
Hiring HR Compensation

Data-driven practices and transparency are a part of our mission. In keeping with that mission, our compensation philosophy prioritizes transparent starting salaries at all levels, data-informed pay, clear timelines and processes for raises. By opting for a transparent set of salary tiers based on data, we hope to establish CS&S as a leader in equitable pay in both the tech and nonprofit sectors. Compensation tiers are benchmarked with data gathered from 990s of comparable organizations, public sources of aggregate nonprofit salary data, and published reports of US nonprofit compensation (e.g.Guidestar Nonprofit Compensation Report). Senior Executive and Officer salaries (which are roles that are defined by Executive Compensation Philosophy) will be backed by data, reviewed, and approved by the Board Governance & Personnel Committee and full Board of Directors, as required.

Fiscally sponsored project staff salaries are set by project leaders and project Advisory Committees. This philosophy applies only to staff who work on CS&S core programs and operations. Fiscally sponsored projects are encouraged to develop transparent salary guidelines for their projects and post salaries with open positions.

Salary Tiers

  • The Board sets the Executive Director’s salary and manages their review process.

  • Transparent starting salaries for position levels are in the chart below. Our philosophy is to encourage pay transparency in our organization and support employees along promotion tracks. To support this, there is no negotiation of the starting salary levels. Instead, if you feel you are qualified for the requirements of a higher tier position, you may request that CS&S leadership consider amending your position title and scope of work prior to signing an offer letter. These represent starting salaries for each type of position on the core team. Salaries will be posted in position descriptions when jobs are advertised.

Job title

Starting salary

Executive Director or CEO

Set by the Board

Senior Executive

$150,000

Senior Director

$120,750

Director

$99,750

Senior Program Manager

$84,000

Program Manager

$73,500

Associate/Coordinator

$63,000

Annual Salary Adjustments

  • We plan for an annual salary adjustment for all staff to address cost of living increases, when the organizational budget allows. This change in compensation is informed by inflation, financial market data and usually ranges between 2.5 and 5%. This decision is part of the annual budgeting process.

    • When the budget allows, an additional 0.5% to 2.5% will be added to the planned annual salary adjustment In general, the budget will allow this increase when the organizational reserve capacity (as set by the board) is met.

Board Approval and Review

  • This philosophy will be reviewed annually

    • Changes, including the addition of new tiers or change of starting tier salary will be approved by the CS&S Governance and Personnel Committee of the Board of Directors.

    • ED reserves the right to raise changes to this policy to Governance and Personnel at any time.

  • Hiring and promotion
    • Promotion of staff between tiers and new hires do not require Board approval.

      • Promotions may take place once onboarding is complete (approximately 6 months, though timing varies with role and department) and job descriptions are under review.

      • If a core team member would like to pursue a promotion, they must consult with their manager to agree upon a scope of work for their position, detailed in a new job description, that matches the advanced tier qualities described in the chart below.

      • All core team promotions require ED approval and are subject to budget considerations.

    • Promotion or new hire to Director level or a position defined as Executive (see Executive Compensation Philosophy) does require approval by the CS&S Governance and Personnel Committee of the Board of Directors.

  • Budgeting for staff costs and salary adjustments

    • The budgets CS&S management will bring to the Board for approval will include funding for raises and salaries for the upcoming fiscal year in aggregate rather than specific salary levels for individual positions.

    • This will allow the ED to work with the executive team to settle on the best raise percentage for a given year.

Job title

Starting salary

Starting Experience

Starting Qualities

Qualities for Advancement

Associate/

Coordinator

$63,000

  • 0-3 years of relevant full or part time experience

  • Equivalent experience that indicates abilities aligned with job responsibilities

  • Active interest in a career in the field

  • Demonstrated ability to manage existing job responsibilities

  • Potential to improve the role and its effectiveness

  • Evidence of the improved effectiveness of the role due to the work of the individual

  • Evidence that indicates readiness for and interest in management/leadership

Program Manager

$73,500

All above plus:

  • Experience that indicates readiness for, interest in management/leadership

  • An advanced degree, other advanced qualification, or other evidence of professional skill building

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to grow or evolve projects/programs

  • Track record of effective and impactful work, and strong follow through across their work

  • Track record or interest in independent achievements (writing grants and following through to reporting impact, publishing in their field, etc)

All above plus:

  • Evidence that an individual is ready to take on and independently manage items related to the job (people, program, budgets)

  • Evidence that the individual wants to invest in developing skills related to leadership aspects of the job

  • Strong evidence of the ability independently manage their work

Senior Program Manager

$84,000

All above plus:

  • Experience managing items relevant to the job (people, projects, budgets) over a multi-year timeline

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to successfully grow/evolve and maintain an effective practice over time

  • This may include experience managing grants, managing people, managing budgets

  • A stated interest in developing their skills and gaining experiences related to leadership-aspects of core job competencies

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to successfully grow/evolve and maintain an effective practice over time at CS&S

  • Demonstrated ability to engage at a strategic level on behalf of the organization

  • A stated interest in developing as a leader in their field

Director

$99,750

All above plus:

  • Evidence of emerging leadership at the level of an organization or the person’s professional field

  • Credentialled and skilled in area of expertise

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to successfully manage the strategic development of a medium scale project, organization, or collaboration

All above plus:

  • Evidence of the individual’s ability to significantly add to the effectiveness of the organization through their work

  • Motivation to impact the field as well as the org/program

Senior Director

$120,750

All above plus:

  • Evidence of leadership beyond an organization at the level of the person’s professional field

  • Highly skilled in area of expertise

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to manage a high-impact or large-scale project, org, or collaboration

  • Evidence of a strong capacity for independent strategic thought

  • Consistent evidence of leadership within organizations and the field


All above plus:

  • Track record of consistent, significant contributions to the impact of the organization

  • Highly skilled in area of expertise such that their contributions are critical to strategic direction of the org

Senior Executive

$150,000

All above plus:

  • Multi-year evidence of leadership at the level of the field

  • Highly skilled in area of expertise such that their contributions are critical to strategic direction of the org

All above plus:

  • Demonstrated ability to manage a high-impact or large-scale project, org, or collaboration

  • Evidence of a strong capacity for independent strategic thought

  • Consistent evidence of leadership within organizations and the field

All above plus:

  • Track record of consistent, significant contributions to the impact of the organization

  • Highly skilled in area of expertise such that their contributions are critical to strategic direction of the org