Side-by-side distribution
Chief of Staff
$200,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.4%
- Live roles
- 289
Firmware Engineer
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 56.9%
- Live roles
- 202
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
ASIC Firmware Engineer, Modeling
Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics
Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Firmware/ Embedded Systems Engineer
Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware
Firmware Engineer, Robotics and Surgery Engineering
Founding Firmware Engineer
Staff Firmware Engineer
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
|
$222,000 | 14 |
Lunar Energy
|
$195,000 | 5 |
|
OpenAI
|
$345,500 | 4 |
Neros Technologies
|
$174,750 | 4 |
CoreWeave
|
$197,500 | 3 |
ALSO
|
$185,000 | 3 |
Mach Industries
|
$172,500 | 3 |
ALTEN Technology USA
|
$120,000 | 3 |
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 |
Firmware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $201,916 | 15 |
| New York | $197,500 | 7 |
| Los Angeles | $167,500 | 3 |
Chief of Staff vs Firmware Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Chief of Staff is $200,000 per year (typically $161,250–$240,000), versus $190,000 for Firmware Engineer ($160,000–$213,500). That puts Chief of Staff about 5% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Chief of Staff and Firmware 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.