FFRDCs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

JFC. Your CEO makes over $1M a year?? Your Vice Presidents make over $600K a year? Why does your VP of HR make $338K a year? Based on previous posts, your employer sounds like an overpaid mess.

Compare to mitre
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42239742

Mitre must have the most amazing HR department in the history of ffrdcs, the director makes $1.5 million.

And the mitre CEO makes $3 million and has to file a conflict of interest report because he has multiple nepo relatives at the company, including one who makes $341,000!

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42239742/202443199349317359/IRS990ScheduleL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

RAND's audit reveals surprising holdings: swaps, private equity, and foreign real estate. Odd for a nonprofit. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/2024-09-GSAFAC-0000354403

[Anonymous]

FFRDCs are a grift!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

RAND's audit reveals surprising holdings: swaps, private equity, and foreign real estate. Odd for a nonprofit. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/2024-09-GSAFAC-0000354403

The prev post should say foreign investments not real estate. RAND operates foreign subsidiaries so it’s not that odd. The $46M of investments in Central America and the Caribbean is weird, but maybe that is normal for Mitre and others??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

JFC. Your CEO makes over $1M a year?? Your Vice Presidents make over $600K a year? Why does your VP of HR make $338K a year? Based on previous posts, your employer sounds like an overpaid mess.

Compare to mitre
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42239742

Mitre must have the most amazing HR department in the history of ffrdcs, the director makes $1.5 million.

And the mitre CEO makes $3 million and has to file a conflict of interest report because he has multiple nepo relatives at the company, including one who makes $341,000!

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42239742/202443199349317359/IRS990ScheduleL

With salaries like these, it explains their self-preservation at any cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

Two views exist. One is the idea that seasoned leaders secretly mismanaged RAND for decades despite delivering years of steady growth while maintaining a strong brand (including during Trump’s first term). This view is absurd.

The second view is the brutal truth that an unqualified CEO, with zero experience running a large organization, took reckless risks at the worst possible moment. This rapid collapse isn't a legacy issue; it is the direct result of current, gross incompetence.

RAND’s current CEO will try hard to reframe the first view but the second is clearly supported by the evidence at hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

That pay range for merely running a salesforce database seems really high. Doubt your sponsors want to pay for that bloat.

I'm not at RAND. I think RAND has much bigger problems than this. But that's a normal salary range for the kind of moderately skilled technical job that no one wants to do because you're locked into a particular vendor, you're a cost center, it's boring, and there's no prestige in it. One of the consequences of GRT running RAND has been unwillingness to pay enough for non-PhD roles, not understanding that RAND can get a deal on researchers but no one is excited about coming to RAND to do basically anything else.

You do realize that Rand sells expert labor, not Salesforce admin support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

Two views exist. One is the idea that seasoned leaders secretly mismanaged RAND for decades despite delivering years of steady growth while maintaining a strong brand (including during Trump’s first term). This view is absurd.

The second view is the brutal truth that an unqualified CEO, with zero experience running a large organization, took reckless risks at the worst possible moment. This rapid collapse isn't a legacy issue; it is the direct result of current, gross incompetence.

RAND’s current CEO will try hard to reframe the first view but the second is clearly supported by the evidence at hand.

A third possible view is that the current RAND leadership do NOT want to run an FFRDC, but instead want to transform RAND into an independent think-tank (such as Brookings, Heritage, CSBA, PEW, or whichever else) that is not reliant on Federal funding. This also seems consistent with the externally visible facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

Two views exist. One is the idea that seasoned leaders secretly mismanaged RAND for decades despite delivering years of steady growth while maintaining a strong brand (including during Trump’s first term). This view is absurd.

The second view is the brutal truth that an unqualified CEO, with zero experience running a large organization, took reckless risks at the worst possible moment. This rapid collapse isn't a legacy issue; it is the direct result of current, gross incompetence.

RAND’s current CEO will try hard to reframe the first view but the second is clearly supported by the evidence at hand.

A third possible view is that the current RAND leadership do NOT want to run an FFRDC, but instead want to transform RAND into an independent think-tank (such as Brookings, Heritage, CSBA, PEW, or whichever else) that is not reliant on Federal funding. This also seems consistent with the externally visible facts.

Doesn't RAND get almost all of its funding from the Federal government? That's like the CEO of Ford deciding to ditch the car business to make sneakers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

Rand exec salaries
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951958142

RAND leadership is succeeding in the difficult maneuver of setting money on fire while simultaneously high-fiving their sponsors goodbye and tripping over a pile of pink slips right in front of a news camera. This success demands a high salary!

Two views exist. One is the idea that seasoned leaders secretly mismanaged RAND for decades despite delivering years of steady growth while maintaining a strong brand (including during Trump’s first term). This view is absurd.

The second view is the brutal truth that an unqualified CEO, with zero experience running a large organization, took reckless risks at the worst possible moment. This rapid collapse isn't a legacy issue; it is the direct result of current, gross incompetence.

RAND’s current CEO will try hard to reframe the first view but the second is clearly supported by the evidence at hand.

A third possible view is that the current RAND leadership do NOT want to run an FFRDC, but instead want to transform RAND into an independent think-tank (such as Brookings, Heritage, CSBA, PEW, or whichever else) that is not reliant on Federal funding. This also seems consistent with the externally visible facts.

Does current leadership know that RAND operates multiple FFRDCs? If leaders wanted to lead Brookings, Heritage, Pew, or CSET they should have applied for a leadership job at those places.

[Anonymous]

Brookings has an endowment but it's not regularly used to support staff. You have to bring in money. Grants or contracts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

That pay range for merely running a salesforce database seems really high. Doubt your sponsors want to pay for that bloat.

I'm not at RAND. I think RAND has much bigger problems than this. But that's a normal salary range for the kind of moderately skilled technical job that no one wants to do because you're locked into a particular vendor, you're a cost center, it's boring, and there's no prestige in it. One of the consequences of GRT running RAND has been unwillingness to pay enough for non-PhD roles, not understanding that RAND can get a deal on researchers but no one is excited about coming to RAND to do basically anything else.

You do realize that Rand sells expert labor, not Salesforce admin support?

Still there, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

That pay range for merely running a salesforce database seems really high. Doubt your sponsors want to pay for that bloat.

I'm not at RAND. I think RAND has much bigger problems than this. But that's a normal salary range for the kind of moderately skilled technical job that no one wants to do because you're locked into a particular vendor, you're a cost center, it's boring, and there's no prestige in it. One of the consequences of GRT running RAND has been unwillingness to pay enough for non-PhD roles, not understanding that RAND can get a deal on researchers but no one is excited about coming to RAND to do basically anything else.

You do realize that Rand sells expert labor, not Salesforce admin support?

Still there, huh?

As a sponsor, I find these salaries surprising, as well as their defense on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

That pay range for merely running a salesforce database seems really high. Doubt your sponsors want to pay for that bloat.

I'm not at RAND. I think RAND has much bigger problems than this. But that's a normal salary range for the kind of moderately skilled technical job that no one wants to do because you're locked into a particular vendor, you're a cost center, it's boring, and there's no prestige in it. One of the consequences of GRT running RAND has been unwillingness to pay enough for non-PhD roles, not understanding that RAND can get a deal on researchers but no one is excited about coming to RAND to do basically anything else.

You do realize that Rand sells expert labor, not Salesforce admin support?

Still there, huh?

As a sponsor, I find these salaries surprising, as well as their defense on here.

You find the pay range for the Salesforce person surprising? Why? Do you often hire for that skill set?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNA is also top-heavy...worthless.

I love how this one (I assume) disgruntled ex-CNAer periodically tries to jump into the middle of the RAND/Mitre bashing.

“Guuuys! Come on! CNA sucks too!”

“Who?”

Are you a CNA bootlicker? Current IPR VP making over $250k/year, with high bonuses, can't market IPR work as a former FED even after your restrictions have expired?

The FFRDC portion is safe/sound for now as the Navy/Marine Corps requested changes at the FFRDC. IPR still has a high overhead rate.

Salaries are here in case you were wondering:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541558882

RAND is hiring for a "Salesforce Business Analyst Administrator" (whatever that means) who may earn more than a "Research Lead - AI Cyber Testing & Evaluation" Totally misplaced priorities.

The salary range for the research lead is $137,000 - $246,600 and $120,900 - $180,300 for the Salesforce role. "May" is doing a lot of work there.

That pay range for merely running a salesforce database seems really high. Doubt your sponsors want to pay for that bloat.

I'm not at RAND. I think RAND has much bigger problems than this. But that's a normal salary range for the kind of moderately skilled technical job that no one wants to do because you're locked into a particular vendor, you're a cost center, it's boring, and there's no prestige in it. One of the consequences of GRT running RAND has been unwillingness to pay enough for non-PhD roles, not understanding that RAND can get a deal on researchers but no one is excited about coming to RAND to do basically anything else.

You do realize that Rand sells expert labor, not Salesforce admin support?

Still there, huh?

As a sponsor, I find these salaries surprising, as well as their defense on here.

You find the pay range for the Salesforce person surprising? Why? Do you often hire for that skill set?

Because the basic pay range for an SES is 150k to 225k.