Side-by-side distribution
Chief of Staff
$200,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.4%
- Live roles
- 289
Embedded Engineer
$185,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 52.9%
- Live roles
- 446
Highest-paying jobs
Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
Sr. Staff Program Manager & Chief of Staff, Operations
Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff to the CEO
Chief of Staff (Executive Office) and VP of Strategy & Operations
Chief of Staff to the COO & GM of Marketplace
Chief of Staff Director, Product
Chief of Staff, Product
Chief of Staff, CEO
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Engineer, Embedded Linux Developer
Helix AI Engineer, Embedded Android Systems
Principal Embedded Security Engineer
Sr. Software Engineer, Embedded Agentic AI
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Embedded Software Test Engineer, Onboard Test Automation
Embedded SW Engineer
Staff Embedded Linux Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer-Federal
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Coursera
|
$212,040 | 3 |
Coursera Sourcing
|
$212,040 | 3 |
|
Flex
|
$301,500 | 2 |
|
Checkr
|
$282,250 | 2 |
Sonatus
|
$244,000 | 2 |
Nuro
|
$231,520 | 2 |
EliseAI
|
$212,500 | 2 |
CHAOS Industries
|
$198,750 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$199,500 | 23 |
Silvus Technologies
|
$170,000 | 10 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 9 |
Verkada
|
$240,000 | 7 |
| AX Axon | $183,300 | 7 |
Applied Intuition
|
$202,000 | 6 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$140,000 | 6 |
STR
|
$130,500 | 6 |
Chief of Staff salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $300,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $205,000 | 18 |
| New York | $197,500 | 34 |
| Los Angeles | $192,500 | 4 |
| Toronto | $128,342 | 3 |
Embedded Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $200,750 | 4 |
| Seattle | $193,025 | 12 |
| Boston | $192,500 | 7 |
| Austin | $186,975 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $181,250 | 20 |
| Los Angeles | $180,000 | 15 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 3 |
| New York | $167,500 | 6 |
Chief of Staff vs Embedded Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Chief of Staff is $200,000 per year (typically $161,250–$240,000), versus $185,000 for Embedded Engineer ($155,000–$208,938). That puts Chief of Staff about 8% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Chief of Staff and Embedded Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.