Strategic Projects Lead

💰 $160K–$188K salary range

Median: $178K  ·  Based on 48 public job postings  ·  Updated September 8, 2026

This Strategic Projects Lead salary benchmark is built from public job postings at high-growth and AI-native companies — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Strategic Projects Lead salary by location

• All locations: $178K median ($160K–$188K typical range)
• San Francisco: $188K median, $170K–$188K range (+6% vs. national)
• New York: $160K median, $160K–$195K range (-10% vs. national)

Highest paying companies

San Francisco

• AfterQuery: $188K median
• Scale AI: $171K median

Based on companies with 3+ active postings. Median of publicly advertised salary range.

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 71% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 79% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 21% of postings
• Parental leave: 4% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 2% of postings

Typical experience required: 3–6 years.

Product salaries by seniority

• Associate Product Manager: $99K
• Product Manager: $130K
• Product Manager: $151K
• Senior Product Manager: $164K
• Strategic Projects Lead: $178K
• Product Lead: $200K
• Group Product Manager: $204K
• Director of Product: $234K

What does a Strategic Projects Lead do?

Strategic Projects Leads are product leaders who decide what gets built and why, across engineering, design, and go-to-market. This benchmark reflects Lead-level base compensation at high-growth and AI-native companies.

Common questions

What is the average Strategic Projects Lead salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $178K, with a typical range of $160K–$188K, based on 48 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

Where does this salary data come from?
It is aggregated from public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.

Methodology

Figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised USD salary range, aggregated from 48 public job postings (2025–2026). The range shown is the 25th–75th percentile; the median is the 50th percentile. Equity is separate and not included; where a posting's range reflects on-target earnings (OTE) for commission roles, that is included in the midpoint. Roles require at least 15 postings to be published. Last refreshed September 8, 2026.

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