Data Engineer | Tempus Global Negotiation Guide
Negotiation DNA: AI-Driven Precision Medicine / Growth-Stage / Equity Upside / Clinical Data Infrastructure
| Region | Base Salary | Equity (4yr) | Bonus | Total Comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago IL | $145K–$200K | $55K–$155K/4yr | 10% | $175K–$280K |
| Bay Area CA | $155K–$210K | $60K–$165K/4yr | 10% | $190K–$295K |
| Remote US | $140K–$195K | $50K–$145K/4yr | 10% | $165K–$265K |
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Data Engineers at Tempus build the data infrastructure that powers the world's largest clinical+molecular data library for precision medicine. The role is central to Tempus's value proposition: ingesting, structuring, and integrating multimodal clinical data — genomic sequencing results, pathology images, unstructured clinical notes, treatment records, and outcomes data — into a unified data platform that serves AI models and clinical applications. Tempus processes data from thousands of healthcare institutions, requiring expertise in data integration, quality management, HIPAA compliance, and healthcare data standards (HL7 FHIR, clinical coding). The data engineering team uses modern tools (Spark, Airflow, dbt, Snowflake, AWS) and the pace is startup-fast. [Source: Tempus Data Platform 2025]
Level Mapping: Tempus Data Engineer = Google L3-L4 DE = Flatiron DE = Foundation Medicine DE
Global Levers
- Clinical Data Library = Core Asset: "Tempus's data library IS its most valuable asset. I'm building the infrastructure that makes this asset functional and valuable. My comp should reflect the strategic importance of the data platform."
- Growth-Stage Equity: "Push for top equity grants. As Tempus's data library grows, the company's valuation grows — my data engineering directly expands the core asset."
- Multimodal Healthcare Data: "I bring experience with clinical data integration — genomics, pathology, clinical records — that general data engineers lack."
- National Benchmark: "Bench against national precision medicine market, not Chicago-only."
Negotiate Up Strategy: "I'd like the base at $195K with equity at $135K/4yr and a 10% bonus. My healthcare data engineering experience with [clinical data / genomics / multimodal integration] directly builds Tempus's core data asset." Tempus will counter at $160K-$185K base with $70K-$115K equity. Accept if total comp exceeds $230K. Push on equity.
Evidence & Sources
- [Tempus Data Platform Architecture 2025]
- [Levels.fyi Tempus Data Engineer Comp 2025-2026]
- [Precision Medicine Data Engineering — Bio-IT World 2025]
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