How large should an executive’s target bonus be as a percentage of their salary? We looked at Pave’s analysis of 2,700+ executives.
From 20% for VPs of HR to 100% for VPs of Sales. Getting these ratios wrong can hurt retention or misalign incentives of your top execs.
Important caveat: Many executives in tech are on 100% salary with no variable compensation at all. This analysis only looks at executives who DO have variable pay plans. One of the best CROs I’ve ever worked with had zero variable comp—rare, but it proves you don’t have to do everything by the book!
The Complete Breakdown 📈
Based on analysis of 2,700+ execs with defined variable pay plans:
Sales & Revenue Leaders (The Heavy Hitters) 💰
- VP of Sales: 100% of base salary
- SVP of Sales: 100% of base salary
- Chief Revenue Officer: 85-100% of base salary
C-Suite Leadership 👔
- Chief Executive Officer: 50-100% of base salary
- Chief Financial Officer: 30-40% of base salary
- Chief People Officer: 40-50% of base salary
- Chief Product Officer: 40-50% of base salary
- Chief Technology Officer: 15-35% of base salary
- Chief Marketing Officer: 30-50% of base salary
VP-Level Positions 📊
- VP of Business Development: 25-35% of base salary
- VP of Customer Success: 20-30% of base salary
- VP of Engineering: 30% of base salary
- VP of Finance: 30% of base salary
- VP of Product: 30% of base salary
- VP of Marketing: 25-30% of base salary
- VP of HR: 20-25% of base salary
That’s not profound data, but still helpful as yardsticks if you are building bonus-based comp plan for your exec team.
Key Takeaways from the Data 🎯
1. Sales and revenue leaders typically have a 50/50 split This is the most “aggressive” total target cash allocation of any exec role.
2. CTOs tend to have lower bonus percentages than CPOs This likely reflects different risk profiles. CPOs make large bets that can make or break quarters, while CTOs focus on execution, quality, and long-term technical foundation.
3. Most other exec roles fall in the ~20-30% range
4. Variable pay % of base generally increases as companies get larger (This analysis lumps all company stages together)
What This Means for Your Comp Strategy 💡
The Pattern is Clear:
- Revenue-generating roles = highest variable comp
- Strategic bet-making roles = moderate-high variable comp
- Execution/operational roles = lower variable comp
For Compensation & HR Leaders: Use this data as scientific backing for your executive incentive plans. Consider role-specific factors that should influence your variable pay decisions.
Questions to Ask:
- How directly does this role impact revenue?
- What’s the risk/reward profile of their decisions?
- How do we want to incentivize this position?
- What does retention look like at market rate?
The Bottom Line
Executive compensation is both an art and a science. This real-world data gives you the science—now apply the art of understanding your specific business needs and market dynamics.
