Analyze and Negotiate a Figma Data Scientist Offer

Background

You have a recruiter-indicated package for a Data Scientist role:

• Base salary: $210–225k
• Equity: $600k in RSUs vesting over 4 years (assume standard 25% per year)

Tasks

1. Estimate first-year total compensation (TC) under three stock price scenarios (−30%, 0%, +30%), assuming 25%/year vest. Show calculations. You may compute at both ends of the base range.
2. Propose a data-backed counteroffer: which components to move (base, RSU grant, sign-on, level, refresher cadence), with rationale tied to your impact, market data, and competing timelines.
3. List clarifications to request (e.g., cliff vs quarterly vesting, performance multipliers, refresher policy, promotion pace, location/remote banding, start-date flexibility).
4. State explicit trade-offs you’d accept (e.g., +$X base for −$Y RSUs, or a sign-on to bridge vest). Be concrete and numerically precise in assumptions and calculations.