The Compensation Structure Designer

Help me design a fair, competitive compensation structure.

The roles/levels: [DESCRIBE]
Our situation: [BUDGET, STAGE, LOCATION, PHILOSOPHY]
What we can offer beyond cash: [EQUITY, BENEFITS, FLEXIBILITY]

Provide:
1. A pay philosophy (lead, match, or lag the market — and the trade-offs)
2. A sensible structure of levels and bands
3. The mix of base, variable, equity, and benefits for our stage
4. How to keep it internally fair and externally competitive
5. How to handle exceptions and progression without chaos

Flag that I must benchmark against current local market data and confirm
compliance with pay-equity and minimum-wage law — this is a framework, not
a legal or market-verified answer.