You absorbed a team whose leader wasn't replaced. Vendor decisions that used to go upstairs now stop with you. Maybe the title changed. The pay didn't.
No new offer arrived. The work moved anyway.
I'd price the role you're doing now before choosing the raise to request. Start with what the company is asking you to own, then establish what comparable work pays. Your current salary comes back into the discussion when you calculate the change.
A percentage is a convenient way to express an increase. It isn't a way to decide what the job should pay.
Check how your employer prices the role
Where formal salary bands exist, a raise within your current band and a move to another level are different decisions. Annual review budgets can also be capped. Ask which process your request belongs in, who can approve it and when.
If your employer sets standard pay by level, the important question may be whether your work is assigned to the right level. Smaller employers may negotiate individual contracts instead. There, bring the scope description and market evidence directly to the person who can change the package.
Don't assume promotion is the only route, either. Ask whether a salary adjustment within your existing level is possible. The point is to understand the decision you're asking the company to make, rather than hoping the ordinary review cycle will notice that your job changed.
Put the changed job on one page
I'd prepare a one-page scope-and-pay summary, with the supporting comparisons attached. This is a proposed preparation exercise, not a tested negotiation method. Its job is to make the request and the missing information specific.
The role you're doing. Set the old responsibilities beside the current ones. Record when additions began, whether they're temporary or permanent, what you can now decide and which outcomes you're accountable for. Include relevant changes in people managed, budget authority or customer responsibility.
Separate increased volume from broader responsibility. For example, processing more vendor requests isn't the same as deciding which vendors the company will use. Both can be demanding. They make different cases for changing the job's price.
Add results you can substantiate and identify any authority or resources still missing. Being accountable for another team's delivery without control over its priorities needs more than a title adjustment.
The market comparison. Aim for at least two independent sources that describe comparable work. Match function and responsibility before title. Two websites repeating the same survey count as one source.
Keep the boundaries visible beside each figure:
- The role and employer: function, seniority, decision authority, industry, company size, stage and ownership.
- The market and timing: geography, currency, publication date and the period the data covers.
- The measurement: original source, sample if disclosed, statistic used and what's included. Base salary, target cash and compensation including equity are different measures. Check whether the amount is annual or covers several years.
Mark missing information as unknown. Don't quietly fill it with the assumption that helps your case.
An occupational median for computer and information systems managers is not a CISO-specific benchmark. Broad figures can help you locate better comparisons, but an executive title above a number doesn't make the underlying population executive-only.
When your comparisons disagree, don't average them or quietly choose the flattering one. Show the ranges separately and explain which is closer to your work. A regional team lead and a company-wide function owner may share a title without sharing a mandate.
If neither comparison fits well, call the range provisional and ask HR what role match it uses. Two weak matches don't become a strong benchmark when you average them.
What the package actually pays. Keep current and requested base pay separate from bonus targets and equity. A bonus target is conditional; an equity award's stated value isn't cash you can spend.
For any proposed incentive change, check the measures, eligibility and timing, especially if your responsibilities changed during the performance year. For equity, ask what must happen before it vests and before you can turn it into cash. Equity may be a worthwhile trade, but evaluate that trade separately from the recurring salary you want for the expanded role.
If leaving is a real alternative, note what you would actually forfeit under your bonus and equity terms, without counting the same loss twice.
The coordinated request. If the comparison supports an adjustment, name the base salary you're requesting, explain where it sits within the relevant range and propose an effective date. Include a level or title correction when the work supports it, along with any incentive changes that the new responsibilities require.
Make those terms one coherent request. A title correction, a recurring pay adjustment and a review date do different jobs; don't let one silently stand in for another. Leave room for follow-up when HR supplies missing terms or a better role match.
Find out what the no means
An employer can decline a well-supported request. What matters next is the reason.
If your manager agrees that the role has changed but says the budget can't move, ask what decision can be made now and what remains open. Establish the next decision date, the approver and any information still needed. A review date is not a raise.
For a temporary assignment, I'd ask for an end date, the support available and whether temporary compensation is possible. If the responsibilities are permanent, a one-time payment may help, but it doesn't settle the recurring pay question.
If the company says the added work belongs within your current level, compare that explanation with the actual duties and level criteria. It may be right. Your current package may already be competitive for the expanded job, or the change may be more work at the same level rather than a different role.
That still leaves the workload to discuss. If the additional work stays with you, ask which existing commitments will be reduced, deferred or reassigned. More pay won't create the hours or authority needed to deliver everything.
Record the response, including unresolved points, and confirm agreed compensation changes and effective dates in the documents that govern your package. Get qualified advice in your jurisdiction on consequential legal or tax terms.
Then decide whether the arrangement remains acceptable to you, using realistic alternatives rather than treating a market range as an outside offer. If the only answer is an indefinite promise to revisit, treat that as an unresolved request, not future compensation.
A big interview or an offer on the table?