Head of Engineering SaaS Salary (2026)

Head of Engineering Salary Overview

$86,320

Bottom 25% Average

Early-stage startups

$134,143

Middle 50% Average

Growth companies

$215,053

Top 25% Average

Late-stage/public companies

Heads of Engineering at SaaS companies lead the entire engineering organization, setting technical direction and scaling teams. They manage Directors of Engineering, Engineering Managers, and Technical Leads. The role typically reports to the CTO or CEO.

Head of Engineering compensation reflects the critical nature of scaling engineering teams and shipping reliable products. The career path progresses from Director of Engineering and advances toward Vice President of Engineering. View all SaaS salary benchmarks.

Detailed Head of Engineering Compensation Breakdown

Percentile Band	Average Base Salary	# of salaries
Top 25%	$215,053	19 salaries
Middle 50%	$134,143	33 salaries
Bottom 25%	$86,320	12 salaries

What Drives Higher Head of Engineering Pay?

Engineering org size and number of teams managed
Company stage — Series B–D companies pay premiums for scaling leaders
Technical breadth across infrastructure, platform, and product engineering
M&A and technical due diligence experience

Head of Engineering Compensation Structure

Base salary is the primary component (65–80% of total comp)
Equity grants typically 0.2–1% at growth-stage companies
Performance bonuses tied to engineering velocity and reliability metrics
Retention grants common for critical engineering leaders

Frequently Asked Questions

The median SaaS Head of Engineering base salary is $155,000, with a typical range of $99,408–$189,000. The average base is $149,196 across 64 verified salaries. Total compensation including equity and bonuses often pushes 30–60% above base at well-funded companies.

At growth-stage SaaS companies the titles are sometimes used interchangeably. At larger organizations, VP of Engineering is more senior with broader organizational scope and higher compensation. Head of Engineering often focuses on execution and team delivery, while VP of Engineering owns long-term technical strategy.

Common progressions include VP of Engineering (broader scope across multiple product lines), CTO (company-wide technical vision), or lateral moves into a Director of Engineering role at a larger organization. Some Heads of Engineering transition into founding technical roles at startups.

Yes. Our data shows a $99,408–$189,000 typical range across 64 salaries. Series B–D companies often pay the highest premiums as they scale engineering teams from 20 to 100+ and need leaders who've done it before.

At smaller SaaS companies (under 30 engineers), Heads of Engineering often spend 30–40% of their time on technical architecture and code review. As organizations grow past 50+ engineers, the role shifts almost entirely to people management, hiring, and cross-functional leadership.

Related Salary Benchmarks

Engineering Manager$125K - $200K Director of Engineering$160K - $183K Vice President of Engineering$158K - $205K CTO$100K - $210K Software Engineer$75K - $140K Senior Software Engineer$92K - $165K

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