Is this Cognition salary base pay or total compensation?

These figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised range, from public job postings. Equity is a separate, often-large component of total compensation and is not included here.

Is this Cognition data from placements or job postings?

It is aggregated from public job postings on Cognition's career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

What skills pay the most at Cognition?

Postings requiring Python carry a median base of $280K (5 postings).

Roles we hire for

/

Companies

/

Cognition Salary

Q: What does Cognition pay?

Cognition pays a median of $230K, with a range of $149K to $280K, based on 10 public job postings collected in 2025–2026. These are posted-range midpoints; equity is separate and not included.

Q: What is the highest-paying job at Cognition?

The highest observed base pay is $300K (Security Engineer), from a public job posting. Equity is separate.

Cognition pays a median of $230K ($149K–$280K) across 10 public job postings (2025–2026).

💰 $149K–$280K salary range

Median: $230K · Based on 10 public Cognition job postings · Updated October 26, 2026

This Cognition salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect the posted-range midpoint (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Cognition · pay benchmark · updated October 26, 2026

$230K

inc. eng · sales · ops

All-role median

$149K–$280K

Typical range

$300K view JD

Highest base · Security Engineer

10

Open roles

~5 yrs

Typical exp.

ⓘ Base salary only — 40% of roles mention equity

Highest-paying skills

Python $280K

Highest-paying open roles at Cognition

Security Engineer — $260K–$300K · Research & Development
Software Engineer, Infrastructure — $260K–$300K · Research & Development
Software Engineer — $260K–$300K · Research & Development
Forward Deployed Engineer - Federal — $180K–$280K · Customer Engineering
Applied AI Engineer — $180K–$225K · Customer Engineering
Account Director — $180K–$220K · Sales
Director, Enterprise Sales (Central) — $160K–$180K · Sales
Account Director, Enterprise (East) — $150K–$160K · Sales
Workplace & Engagement Coordinator — $80K–$110K · General & Administrative

Cognition salary by location

San Francisco: $280K median · $300K top base — Security Engineer (view JD) (5 roles)

Remote work at Cognition

0% of Cognition's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly.

What Cognition looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (5) · TypeScript (2) · AWS (2) · GCP (2) · Azure (2) · Kubernetes (2) · JavaScript (1) · Go (1) · Rust (1) · Terraform (1).

About Cognition

Cognition is Series E stage · 101–250 employees · founded 2023 · HQ San Francisco, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at Cognition

Roles typically ask for around 5 years of experience (up to 8+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 1 that do, Bachelor's is most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 40% of these postings reference equity. Equity is not included in the medians above.

Cognition total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: 100% include commission; common structures: salaried. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

Cognition hiring activity

Cognition has 10 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 10 public job postings with disclosed pay.

💼 Similar companies hiring

Compare Cognition's pay with companies in the same space:

Company	Median pay	vs Cognition	Stage
SpaceX	$143K	↓ -38%	Public
CGS Federal	$126K	↓ -45%	—
Blue Origin	$160K	↓ -30%	Venture-backed
Accenture Federal Services	$149K	↓ -35%	—
OpenAI	$308K	↑ +34%	Late Stage
Boeing	$132K	↓ -43%	Public

Common questions

What does Cognition pay?
The median pay is $230K, with a typical range of $149K–$280K, based on 10 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at Cognition?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Security Engineer, at $260K–$300K base.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 10 public Cognition job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed October 26, 2026.

Hiring like Cognition? Talk to Recruiting from Scratch →