Compare the pay, responsibilities, location, and travel in each FDE offer. Start with the written offer and the job description. Put each item in the same units before you decide.
Put the pay in separate columns
Record these items separately:
- base salary and the pay period
- bonus or commission, including the target and the conditions for payment
- equity type, number of units or shares, vesting schedule, and any stated exercise or valuation terms
- sign-on payment, relocation support, and repayment conditions
- benefits that change your direct cost, such as health insurance or retirement contributions
Do not add a target bonus or an equity estimate to base salary and call the result guaranteed pay. Ask what is guaranteed, what is a target, and what depends on company or individual performance. For equity, ask what the grant represents, when it vests, what happens if you leave, and which valuation or exercise assumptions the company expects you to use. These questions describe the offer. They are not investment or tax advice.
Use salary data as a reference point
Use Nextmove’s FDE salary page to find comparable postings, then read their original pay terms. Check whether each range describes base salary, on-target earnings, or another pay measure. Compare the same pay components across offers.
A posting’s range can cover more than one location or level. Confirm which range applies to your offer. Ask what responsibility, location, level, or pay component explains a difference. Ask the employer to confirm the written terms and the assumptions behind any equity value.
Compare the work behind the number
Create a row for each responsibility that matters to you:
| Question | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses the work? | ||
| What do you build? | ||
| Which stages do you own? | ||
| How much production and on-call responsibility? | ||
| How much customer travel, and who pays? | ||
| Which location rules apply? | ||
| What is the expected level and next review? | ||
| What is written versus still unclear? |
FDE titles cover different jobs. One offer may center on production engineering inside customer environments. Another may emphasize pre-sales evaluation, implementation, adoption, or internal deployment. Ask for a normal project from discovery through launch. Ask who owns the code after handoff, who responds to incidents, and how customer requests reach product and engineering.
Treat travel and location as part of compensation
A remote label does not answer where you may work or how often you travel. Confirm the approved work location, time-zone expectations, customer-site travel, travel notice, reimbursement, and whether travel changes during launches. Confirm the location tied to the salary range. A multi-location posting can show one range while the offer applies to a particular office or region.
Check the decision with written evidence
Before accepting, ask for the missing terms in writing:
- the level and reporting line
- the first project and expected deliverables
- base, bonus target, equity terms, and review timing
- work location, travel expectations, and reimbursement
- on-call, overtime, or weekend expectations
- visa sponsorship or work authorization support, if relevant
Mark “not stated” as unknown. Silence about travel, equity, or sponsorship is not a promise that the condition does not apply. Compare the answers with the offer letter and keep the documents together. If the job changes materially between the interview and the written offer, ask which document controls.