Overview
You’ll walk into your next hiring push with ranges, offer guidance, and leveling rules that hold together under questions about peers, matches, and internal fairness.
I’ll build pay range architecture you can defend in a leadership room, with job matches you can explain and peer cuts you can name. Next, I’ll confirm your benchmark job list and the decisions you want to make with it.
I start by turning your roles into a benchmarkable job list, then I match each role to market data with written logic you can repeat. From there, I level and slot jobs, build grades and ranges around midpoints, and check internal equity so you see where compression and outliers will cause problems.
About me
I’m Erin Klement, a compensation consultant. I do pay range architecture for organizations that need market data to line up with the jobs they actually have. Most of my work starts after pay has drifted role by role, and someone needs a reset that can survive leadership questions and manager pushback.
I’m useful when you want fewer opinions and more decision-ready options. I show my match logic, I name the survey sources behind each midpoint, and I flag where a clean market story breaks because of job scope, shift premiums, scarce skills, or internal compression. You get ranges you can run with, not a spreadsheet you have to defend alone.
Selected work
A few recent pay range architecture engagements, showing how I handle messy job lists, hybrid roles, and leadership questions about peers and pricing.
Portfolio
Plant roles range reset. Built a benchmark list across hourly and salaried operations roles, then rebuilt grades and ranges after competing plants raised starting pay. Added offer rules for hard-to-fill shifts and a compression check for tenured leads.
Brewery first pay grades. Mapped roles into a simple career framework and created grade-based ranges to stop one-off negotiating. Wrote manager guidance for offers and promotions so decisions were consistent across taproom, production, and sales.
Hybrid engineering benchmarks. Matched blended roles that mixed manufacturing engineering, quality, and project leadership. Documented peer cuts and match rationale so leaders could answer “compared to who” without hand-waving.
“The ranges held up in the room, and the job matches made sense.”
HR manager, a multi-shift manufacturer
How I work
I keep this work moving by making assumptions visible early. You’ll see the benchmark matches and the peer cuts before I build ranges, so I’m not polishing numbers that won’t survive a leadership question.
1. Benchmark list build Week 1 I collect your current job list and pick the roles that will anchor the market view. I’ll ask for job descriptions where you have them, plus org context like reporting level and decision scope. You’ll review and approve the benchmark list before I price any role to market. 2. Survey selection and matching Week 2 I select survey sources that fit your labor market and industry mix, then I match each benchmark role to market jobs. For every match, I document what I matched on and what I chose to ignore, so you can answer questions about hybrid work and edge-case titles. 3. Leveling and slotting workshop Week 3 I run a working session to level roles and slot them into a career and grade structure. I’ll come with a draft leveling logic, then we’ll make calls on scope differences that affect pay, like shift coverage, certifications, span of control, and problem-solving level. 4. Range build and equity check Week 4 I build grades and ranges, align midpoints to the market view you approved, and then test the result against internal pay. You’ll see where compression, outliers, and legacy pay create risk, and you’ll have options for how to address it in offers and promotions.
What it costs
Pick based on how many jobs you need benchmarked and leveled right now. Each option covers the same four-week pay range architecture process.
Priced items
Getting started
If you want to lock this in and start building ranges ahead of hiring, here’s how I’ll kick it off.
1. Sign this proposal to reserve the start date. 2. Pay the 40% booking invoice within 14 days. 3. Send your job list and current pay file so I can draft the benchmark list.
Signature
Fee summary
Payment
To book the work, I invoice 40% when you sign. I invoice the remaining 60% when the engagement is complete. Each invoice is payable within 14 days of its date.
Scope changes. If the job list changes after Week 1, or you want to add job families, I will pause and send an updated scope and fee before I continue, so ranges and invoices stay aligned.
Client inputs. Before Week 1, I need your current job titles, job descriptions if you have them, and a current payroll export with base, bonus target, and any LTI notes. Missing inputs shift the timeline.
Job matching decisions. I will document the survey sources used and the matching logic for each benchmark. If a role does not match cleanly, I will give you options and a recommendation, and you decide which match to use.
Work sessions
Week 3 includes one leveling and slotting workshop. If you need additional sessions because more roles are added or stakeholders change, I will confirm the added fee and schedule before booking time.
Confidentiality. I treat your payroll data, job information, and internal pay decisions as confidential. I use them only to complete pay range architecture, and I do not share your data with other clients.
Ownership. Once the final invoice is paid, you own the pay ranges, pay grade structure, and any working files I deliver. I keep a copy of my working notes so I can support follow-up questions.
