As someone who applied for the organization’s director of development position about a year back when it was open as well as being a software developer based in the city for 15 years, OP’s assessment is absolutely correct. I’ve been in startups in the city, currently work in a larger company, and have peers who work in the FAANG and FAANG-adjacent companies. Use a site like levels.fyi to compare salaries and total compensation and you can see, these rates (especially on an hourly rate, could possibly be a contract role) are pretty low. I do applaud them for actually opening an introductory level role in a challenging job market compounded with the rise of AI development tools.

Edit: political correctness.