Typical comp shape
Design managers usually earn rsu + refresh grants. Common employers include Figma, Airbnb, Adobe. Figma design-manager hires sit on pre-IPO RSUs with secondary tender liquidity the main de-risking lever.
What Vermont changes
In Vermont, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 8.75% state tax on top of federal. For a senior design manager with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a design manager in Vermont, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).