Supportive team with high pressure and tight deadlines - Staff Engineer Commonwealth Fusion Systems Employee Review

Really good group of people working on some very challenging problems. I high level of humility considering the pedigree of the talent, very low-ego environment. Great opportunity to make an impact and get a start in an emerging industry with tremendous growth potential. The company is well led and has successfully raised capital to support the work. I've learned more here in the past few years than anywhere in my career.

It's not easy. The work is hard. There is always more to learn. It takes being comfortable with not knowing things and often not having time to do everything to the level you might like.

Most of the individual contributors/hourly employees are excellent people who are there for the mission of clean energy. And god bless the technicians & test operations team, who are basically carrying the company's progress right now, without much recognition.

Godawful company management and benefits, in every aspect/level. - RAISES CAPPED AT 2%. Even for the highest performers. - "Unlimited PTO (most people take 2-3 weeks)" --quote from onboarding document - No bonuses, for anything (performance, retention, signing) - Your salary offer WILL be disappointing; they are banking on applicants being too "mission driven" to care about competitive compensation - Shady practices from HR on the non-compete agreement. Unless you are specifically "fired without cause" (layoffs), YOU ARE NOT BOUND BY THE NONCOMPETE UNLESS THEY PAY YOU GARDEN LEAVE (6 MO. SALARY). Check the agreement you signed. HR will make it seem like you're bound by it no matter what. -CEO refuses to let go of technical decision-making and is slowing down/obstructing useful projects -Every team uses different standards and software because someone on that team came from a company that used that standard/software -Onboarding barely existant -Onsite cafe is NOT free, only mildly subsidised. Plus, bare-bones food options for folks working 3rd shift. -The decision-making of team-level managers and middle-management folks appears to be extremely personality-dependent/who shouts the loudest/who is the most conflict-avoidant. Then, that mess gets dumped onto ICs in the form of conflicting/constantly changing priorities & job security being dependent on who you're friends with.