Pros
-Great engineering team and engineering management. Smart, resourceful, able to solve hard problems. Really enjoyed working with many of them, -Work/Life Balance. Never felt uncomfortable working short days and making up for it with long days. -Good health coverage and HSA matching -Interesting work projects (SBIR type stuff) -Ability to work across all facets of a project
Cons
-Compensation. Starting salary slightly below average, but raises and bonuses don't happen. I never got a raise or bonus (nor did anyone else), not even a market adjustment. This was the reason I left, I was in the bottom 1% of engineers with my experience by the time I left. I more than doubled my compensation by leaving. (salary and benefits) -Highly unstable business. Survive on 1 or 2 SBIR contracts at a time and some random engineering services stuff. If a contract was delayed or a times were slow half pay was enacted on an already poor salary. Back pay was partial (barely) or not given. -No dental coverage (they offer a plan but don't pay any of it). Average or below 401k matching. -Transparency. Little time to plan for half pay, and little insight into when it will end and if there will be back pay. -We walked a fine line between "resourcefulness" and "unethical". I sometimes felt I was too limited in tools to do the job as well as we promised the customer. More than one time we demoed capabilities we we're unsure of and got lucky. -Management does not handle employees leaving well. Don't expect a recommendation.