By Role
Same TCO ledger, applied per discipline. Software, SRE, ML, firmware, security, and engineering manager hires have meaningfully different cost profiles.
The largest engineering hiring category. Highest job-board signal and the most active recruiter market. Referral programmes work best here.
All-in TCO
$35k - $95k
Smaller pool, higher passive ratio. Direct sourcing and specialist agencies dominate. Loop tends to be heavier with systems-design rounds.
All-in TCO
$45k - $115k
Tightest market. PhD-leaning candidates, heavy take-homes, longer loops with research components. Equity often dominates negotiation.
All-in TCO
$60k - $165k
Niche talent pool, hardware-product-cycle constraints. Specialist embedded recruiters typical. Onsite hardware bring-up makes remote loops harder.
All-in TCO
$45k - $110k
Demand outpaces supply. Background-check spend higher than other engineering roles. Specialist agencies and conference circuit are top channels.
All-in TCO
$50k - $130k
Loops require leadership and people-management signal, not just technical depth. Retained search common at director+ level.
All-in TCO
$60k - $145k
The calculator lets you pick salary, channel, and loop hours and shows the per-line breakdown.