Compensation
Negotiating an executive offer: looking beyond base salary
At senior levels, base pay is often the least flexible part of an offer. The real negotiation sits in incentives, protections and the terms nobody reads until they need them.
Nextlevel Editorial Team · 13 October 2026 · 6 min read
Most executives know to negotiate salary. Fewer realise that, at senior level, salary is frequently set by internal bands or remuneration committee policy and has the least room to move. The more meaningful gains are often elsewhere.
Understand the whole package first
- Base salary and review timing
- Annual bonus: target, maximum and how the measures are set
- Long-term incentives: type, vesting schedule, performance conditions
- Buy-out of awards you will forfeit by leaving
- Pension, benefits, car or allowances
- Notice period, severance terms and change-of-control provisions
- Relocation, tax support and start date
Buy-outs deserve careful attention
If you are leaving unvested shares or a bonus you would otherwise have received, a buy-out is a reasonable request. Prepare a clear schedule of what you will lose and when it would have vested. Employers generally prefer to replace value like for like, so expect replacement awards to carry similar timing and conditions.
Read the performance conditions
A generous long-term incentive is worth little if the targets are unrealistic or entirely outside your control. Ask how the measures were set, how often similar awards have paid out, and whether there is any discretion for the committee to adjust outcomes.
Protect the downside
It is uncomfortable to discuss leaving before you have started, but severance and change-of-control terms matter most precisely when circumstances change. Clarify notice periods on both sides, what happens to unvested awards if you leave as a good leaver, and how restrictive covenants apply.
Negotiate as you intend to work: clearly, fairly and with an eye on the long-term relationship.
Use your search consultant
A good consultant knows what the client can and cannot move, and can raise points on your behalf without colouring the relationship with your future chair. Be honest with them about what matters most to you, and let them help you prioritise.