Pros
ODSC (internal) culture, relaxed and mutually supportive without the hipster/techbro stereotype Enlightened attitude to tech - except for a few more sensitive projects, generally if a new library or approach is alright with the tech lead then that’s all the approval you need. No corporate paperwork for trivial technical changes. Junior people get more opportunity to do higher-level work than in most other places (though that's partly due to the lack of seniors - see 'Cons') Semi-flexible working (has to be a fixed start/end time agreed in writing - but you can change it from the standard 9-5.30) Good pension scheme: maximum 8% employee contribution results in 10.5% employer contribution
Cons
Absolutely no buy-in from the rest of the company for the Agile model or supposed "startup culture" Work-life balance can be poor to non-existent if you get a "bad" project. Consistent under-resourcing of projects means the "bad" ones often outnumber the "good" ones Starting salaries are average, and quickly become uncompetitive given below-inflation annual increases Difficulty in attracting people at senior/leadership level (because of salaries) means there's too much tolerance of mediocrity Career system is a confused mess