Pros
Flexible WFH policy, open PTO, summer Fridays, mostly good colleagues, decent health insurance, pet insurance assistance is a plus too My department specifically had fantastic leadership/management and great onboarding and training.
Cons
The executive team doesn't seem to fully understand their own product. Continues to attempt to release the same product under a different name and color thinking consumers won’t know any better (They do). The lack of effort in any creativity is disappointing. Continues to focus marketing efforts on pet owners rather than repeat customers such as breeders and veterinarians. I may not have a MBA, but I know a focus on these repeat customers is more sustainable for your business rather than customers who buy 1-2 kits every 10-15 years. But nah, instead let’s start a gift campaign for pet owners because that will get numbers up! Embark is a reactive rather than proactive company. When concerns are raised from departments regarding new product developments or UX designs, these concerns are dismissed and are met with a “let’s see what happens” attitude. This often results in those who raised the concerns cleaning up the mess made by others who dismissed their concerns. It’s incredibly frustrating when your colleagues do not respect or take into account your professional expertise. Continues to deprioritize research and the science team. I don’t think this con needs any further explanation for a biotech company. There is no job security. I was part of the 4th round of layoffs in the past 1.5 years and it was not at all surprising another round was taking place. The lackluster severance package was also no surprise.