Meridian Health Tech — Senior Software Engineer

Offer Summary

Base Salary: $148,000/year Signing Bonus: $8,000 (one-time) Equity: 0.08% (4-year vest, 1-year cliff) PTO: 15 days/year Health Benefits: $500/month employer contribution Work Arrangement: Hybrid — Austin, TX (2 days in-office)

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Leverage & Market Assessment

What you bring to Meridian — anchor every conversation here:

• Healthcare domain depth. 4 years at Cedar Health building HIPAA-compliant patient-facing systems means Meridian skips the 6-month ramp every other senior hire would need on regulated workflows.
• Full-stack range. React + Node.js + PostgreSQL across the same stack Meridian runs — you ship end-to-end, no handoffs, no waiting on a backend partner.
• Demonstrated impact. You shipped a claims-processing pipeline that cut manual review time 40% at your last role. That's the kind of operational ROI Meridian is hiring for.
• Stage fit. You've operated inside a Series B → Series C scale-up before; you've seen which engineering trade-offs accelerate growth and which create tech debt the next round inherits.
• Mentorship and recruiting pull. Senior engineers who can level up the team and bring strong referrals compound in value far beyond their IC output.

Market context (supporting evidence, not the anchor): Senior full-stack engineers with healthcare domain experience in Austin generally clear $158k–$180k base; senior IC equity at Series B health-tech tends to run 0.12%–0.20%, and 20-day PTO is the typical baseline. We do not pull live data — verify these ranges against current sources (Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, BLS) before quoting them. The point: the asks below are reasonable in the broader market AND backed by what you specifically bring.

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Counter-Offer Email

Subject: Offer Discussion — Alex Rivera, Senior Software Engineer

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for the offer — I'm genuinely excited about the opportunity to join Meridian and contribute to the platform work we discussed. Before signing, I'd like to talk through a few items.

I want to start by reinforcing what I bring to this role: 4 years of HIPAA-compliant healthcare engineering, full-stack ownership across the exact React/Node/Postgres stack you run, and a track record of shipping operational wins (the claims-processing pipeline I led at Cedar cut manual review time 40%). That's the impact I'm bringing on day one — and that's the basis for the package I'd like to discuss.

Base Salary: I'm targeting $168,000. Given the immediate domain ramp I save the team and my full-stack ownership, this reflects what I think the role is worth — and it's consistent with the broader market for senior engineers with this profile.

Signing Bonus: I'd appreciate a signing bonus closer to $15,000. I'm forgoing a year-end bonus by leaving my current role now, and this would help offset that gap.

Equity: I'd like to discuss increasing the grant to 0.12%. I see real upside at Meridian and want my equity stake to reflect the long-term impact I plan to make here.

PTO: 20 days would match what I've maintained in previous roles. It genuinely helps me show up sustainably — and I've found it makes a measurable difference in the quality of my output.

I want to be direct: Meridian is my first choice. I'm not shopping this offer. I just want to make sure we land somewhere that reflects the value I'm bringing and sets us both up for a great long-term relationship.

Looking forward to your response, Alex Rivera

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Rebuttal Prep

Objection 1: "That salary is above our pay band for this role."

Your response: "I hear you. I'd push back gently on the framing though — the band assumes a generic senior hire. The specific value I bring is healthcare domain depth and a 40% efficiency win on claims processing that I can replicate here. If the band is fixed, let's talk about how we make total comp reflect that — equity, signing, or accelerated review timeline. I want to land at a package that matches the impact I'll have."

Objection 2: "We've already invested a lot of time in this process — this is our final offer."

Your response: "I appreciate you naming that, and I want to acknowledge the investment on both sides. That's exactly why I want to land this right — re-running this search costs the team months of vacancy, and I'm here ready to ramp on day one. A modest move on base or signing is a small adjustment relative to that. Can we find $5–10K of room?"

Objection 3: "I don't have authority to change this — HR set the number."

Your response: "Totally understand — and I know you're advocating for me inside. What would help most is if you can take this back: 'The candidate brings healthcare domain depth and a documented 40% operational win, and is asking for $168K to land here.' If HR comes back with constraints, let's regroup on what flexibility exists across the package — base, signing, equity, review timeline."

Objection 4 (tailored): "We need an answer by end of week."

Your response: "Absolutely, I respect the timeline. I'll have a final answer within 24 hours of our follow-up — does tomorrow morning work for a 20-minute call?"

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Non-Salary Wins

Even if base salary is firm, there's real value to capture elsewhere:

• Signing bonus increase — $5K–$10K bump to offset the year-end bonus you're forfeiting
• Vesting acceleration — 6-month cliff instead of 12, given your seniority
• Title upgrade — "Staff Engineer" or "Senior Engineer II" opens faster comp bands at review time
• Professional development budget — $2,000–$3,000/year for conferences, courses, and certifications
• Accelerated review cycle — 6-month initial review instead of 12-month, with merit increase on the table
• Home office stipend — $1,500–$2,000 one-time, or $100/month allowance
• Flexible start date — A 3-week buffer costs the company nothing and gives you time to transition cleanly

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Timing & Strategy

How you negotiate matters as much as what you ask for. A few rules to follow:

• Take 24–48 hours minimum before responding to the offer. Never accept on the spot — the offer will not evaporate, regardless of urgency cues.
• Negotiate over email, not phone. Email gives you time to think, leaves a paper trail, and controls pacing. If they push for a call, agree — then send the written ask immediately after to lock the terms.
• Avoid desperation language ("I really need this," "my rent is going up"). Anchor on your value to Meridian, not your personal finances.
• Use a delaying authority if pressed: "I want to discuss with my partner before committing." This is universally accepted and creates space.
• Recommended next action: Reply tomorrow morning with the email above. Subject line clean, asks listed cleanly, no ultimatum language. Then sit with it for 24 hours before sending the next response — let them come back to you.