Negotiating at the senior level without burning the offer.
Three moves that lift comp by $40K on average - and the one move that loses the offer in the final hour.
At the senior level, negotiation is not about asking for more. It is about repricing what is already on the table without changing the temperature of the conversation.
Move one: never name the first number. Even when pressed. 'I am calibrated to senior market for this scope - happy to compare against your band once it is shared.'
Move two: separate base, equity, sign-on, and review cycle into four distinct conversations. Bundling them lets the company win on three by giving on one. Splitting them forces a real answer on each.
Move three: bring a second, competing process to the table - even a slow one. Optionality is the only leverage that consistently moves senior comp.
The move that loses the offer in the final hour is going hard on a number after you have already signalled you are in. The company concludes you negotiated in bad faith and the verbal collapses.