We believe privacy companies should hold themselves to the highest standard of transparency. This page is part of that commitment.
Our salary bands are public. Our compensation philosophy is simple: pay fairly, adjust predictably, never rely on bonuses to mask below-market base pay.
All salaries are indexed with a 4% annual increase, applied at the start of each fiscal year. No discretionary bonuses. No variable pay games. What you see is what you earn.
Where We Are Right Now
Vie Privée is in its foundational phase. We’re shipping the first products, validating the architecture, and building the core team. That means:
- We are not yet hiring at the scale shown below. The salary bands represent where we are headed as we secure funding and grow revenue.
- Current hiring is lean and mission-driven. Early joiners help define these bands — and every other process that will eventually become structure.
- The 4% annual indexation is a commitment, not a projection. It applies from day one of employment, whatever the band looks like at that time.
Think of this page as a contract with our future selves — and with anyone considering joining us early.
Compensation Philosophy
- One salary, no surprises. We don’t use bonuses, commissions, or equity refreshes as recruiting leverage. The posted band is the offer.
- Automatic indexation. Every role receives a 4% increase per year, regardless of department or seniority. It’s structural, not performative.
- Location-adjusted globally. Salaries are pegged to a Canadian baseline (CAD) and adjusted by cost-of-labour index per region. The table below shows the Canadian baseline.
- No negotiation asymmetry. Everyone at the same role + level earns the same band. Period.
Target Salary Bands
⚠️ These are target bands — the compensation structure we are building toward as Vie Privée matures. Current offers may differ during the startup phase, but they will always reference these bands as the north star. Once we reach stable revenue, all active roles will align to the figures below.
All figures in CAD, annual, gross. Add 4% per year of tenure.
| Role | Level | Target Band (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer — I | Junior | $65,000 |
| Software Engineer — II | Mid | $85,000 |
| Software Engineer — III | Senior | $105,000 |
| Software Engineer — IV | Principal | $130,000 |
| Software Engineer — V | Staff | $155,000 |
| Cryptographic Engineer — I | Mid | $90,000 |
| Cryptographic Engineer — II | Senior | $115,000 |
| Cryptographic Engineer — III | Principal | $140,000 |
| Security Engineer — I | Mid | $90,000 |
| Security Engineer — II | Senior | $115,000 |
| Security Engineer — III | Principal | $140,000 |
| Designer — I | Junior | $55,000 |
| Designer — II | Mid | $75,000 |
| Designer — III | Senior | $95,000 |
| Designer — IV | Principal | $115,000 |
| Product Manager — I | Mid | $80,000 |
| Product Manager — II | Senior | $100,000 |
| Product Manager — III | Principal | $125,000 |
| Compliance & Privacy Analyst — I | Junior | $55,000 |
| Compliance & Privacy Analyst — II | Mid | $70,000 |
| Compliance & Privacy Analyst — III | Senior | $90,000 |
| Technical Writer — I | Junior | $50,000 |
| Technical Writer — II | Mid | $65,000 |
| Technical Writer — III | Senior | $80,000 |
Why No Bonus?
Bonuses create perverse incentives at a privacy company. We don’t want anyone rushing a feature to hit a quarterly target. We don’t want sales targets that push aggressive upselling onto users who called to delete their account.
If we hit our goals, the whole company benefits from the structural 4% indexation and from building a product people trust enough to pay for. That’s the loop we optimize for.
Anticipated Future Roles
These aren’t open yet, but as Vie Privée scales, these are roles we anticipate needing. Target bands are projected based on the same indexing philosophy.
| Role | Anticipated Level | Projected Band (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| DevOps / Infrastructure Engineer | Mid – Senior | $90,000 – $115,000 |
| QA / Security QA Engineer | Mid | $80,000 – $90,000 |
| Customer Success — Privacy Specialist | Junior – Mid | $50,000 – $65,000 |
| Community & Education Lead | Mid | $65,000 – $75,000 |
| Legal Counsel — Privacy & Data Protection | Senior – Principal | $110,000 – $140,000 |
| Penetration Tester (in-house) | Mid – Senior | $95,000 – $120,000 |
| Localization Engineer | Mid | $75,000 – $85,000 |
| Browser Extension Developer | Mid – Senior | $85,000 – $110,000 |
| ML / On-Device AI Engineer (for Navigate) | Senior – Principal | $115,000 – $145,000 |
| Account Executive — Enterprise | Mid – Senior | $75,000 – $95,000 + commission exception¹ |
¹ Enterprise Account Executives are the sole exception to the no-variable-pay rule, because outbound B2B sales structurally requires commission-based comp. Base salary remains fixed; commission is transparent and capped.
How to Read the Indexation
Here’s what the 4% annual increase looks like over time, starting from a Senior Software Engineer (III) at $105,000:
| Year | Salary (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Year 0 (Start) | $105,000 |
| Year 1 | $109,200 |
| Year 2 | $113,568 |
| Year 3 | $118,111 |
| Year 4 | $122,835 |
| Year 5 | $127,748 |
Compounding beats a one-time signing bonus every time.
Open Positions
We’re hiring selectively. Every role matters when you’re building zero-knowledge infrastructure.
No open positions at this time — but we’re always interested in hearing from people who align with our manifesto. Send a short note to careers@mail.vieprivee.io telling us what you’d build and why privacy infrastructure matters to you.