How should I do my project?

Bonuses: I'm leaving my job once my project is done. How can I renegotiate my compensation now?

• I was hired two years ago to work at a new R&D department at a company that makes products for the construction industry. I was hired  to work on a project that was in its 2nd year when I joined, and had been far underbid and badly managed prior to my arrival. I began running a nascent machine shop, then build the shop up, designed 80% of the actual product, managed sourcing, production and assembly of the product, and then have spent about the last year on-site working on installation and activation (the product is a bunch of big robots, kind of).  The project has gone badly on a whole lot of levels.  The time schedule was unrealistic and the scope of work was never established by those above me.  My department will be dissolved upon completion.  I have told my bosses that I'll be leaving once the project is over, but the timeline for completion is unclear.  In the end I think it'll be okay, but painful for most involved. All of which puts me in a weird bargaining position.  My bosses realize that if I were to leave before the project is over, the company will be in a position of serious risk.  I expect that even after the client takes ownership, the project will remain a considerable liability for the company; a significant amount of uncompensated service/warranty work will be required.  I'm not uniquely qualified to do any of this, but the company doesn't have the resources to replace me, especially in the face of rapidly approaching deadlines.  They don't want to be in this business moving forward, and so it will be in their interest to keep me involved, at least peripherally, even after the checks have all been cashed, as opposed to hiring someone who won't have anything else to work on.  The client is scheduled to take ownership in June, but there's likely a lot more work to be done than we can complete by then. I make enough money, but I want more (my last raise was 18 months ago; I asked for $120K and got $95K, and the exchange was amicable).  I have considered asking for a straight up raise now, which I'm worried would be really tacky.  I've also considered asking to be converted to a contractor, and have thought of asking for some sort of retainer to be paid once the project is complete (no idea how much I would charge), to assure that I could be basically on-call to fix any problems down the line.  Obviously this would be an inconvenience to me and would complicate my job search moving forward.  I've also recently thought of staying as an employee but asking for a guaranteed completion bonus (I was thinking  $5-10K), which has the upside of looking more like it'll motivate me to get the job done ASAP - which is obviously what they want. I've considered other non-monetary forms of compensation, but they're all a bit lackluster.  The products I've developed might be patentable but the rights wouldn't be worth anything to anyone but my employer and myself (most of the actual design is mine; it's kind of my baby).  I've considered negotiating a purchase of part of the R&D department, too.  I sold my employer $16K worth of equipment from my previous business about six months after I started, and I managed the expansion of the shop, which probably has $50K worth of sellable equipment in it.  I've played with the idea of offering a buyback, at a discount, of some of the equipment that the rest of the company won't want to absorb. All of this is complicated by personal and family factors, which will affect my decision but which aren't really worth discussing here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I want to make the most of my position - both in terms of financial compensation and in terms of the relationships I'll leave with.  I also want to leave the company in the best shape possible, and I feel strongly that the company will be better off if I stay through the end of the project, and stay around in a limited capacity beyond that.  I also want to see the project finished; like I say, it's my baby. Thanks in advance!

• Answer:

  I’m not sure you have much of a leg to stand on with the buy in for the R&D or patents.  It’s probably a safe bet that your employment agreement had something to the effect of “you relinquish any and all rights to anything you develop while employed with xx.”  Compounded by the fact that you don’t think that the intellectual property would be valuable to anyone beyond you and your employer – there is no reason they would give/sell you a piece of the IP to later hold over their heads or profit on down the road.  Your best bet might be to speak with your boss and let him know that you have been receiving some interest from other parties for you to provide consulting services and that that given the state of the project, and your ability to add value to other organizations – your initial thought was to give your notice and part ways with your company.  With that being said – you still have a sense of responsibility to see the project through – so rather than providing 2 weeks notice - you have a proposal for them.  You will stay on for xx period of time (3 months/6 months - however long you think makes sense in this situation) to either close out the project or provide training and transition to a replacement team.  In return you expect to continue to be paid your salary and a lump sum for a “training bonus” to be paid 50% up front and 50% at completion of the training period.  You mentioned that you’re not “uniquely qualified” – but how badly they need you will dictate how much you can ask for in this proposal.  Depending on your situation - I think somewhere in the 10k-20k realm is reasonable for this ask.  During this “transition period” you need to set up an LLC with a lawyer.  In the last few weeks – work out a consulting agreement with the company for continuing/post go live support.  Don’t make the mistake of offering them a rate that doesn’t make sense for you.  Take what you wanted to make (120k, add 5% increase YOY since your original request) and work out the hourly rate…. Double that.  At least.  After the transition period is over – exit the company as planned and provide consulting services for them – and for others in the space as you see fit.  With any hard ultimatum negotiation – the important thing to remember is that you have to actually be willing to act upon your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement)… in this case – if you are to make this offer and have it flat out rejected – you need to be willing to actually walk. Good luck.