Work some place else, you will live longer. - Senior Principal Programmer Novartis Employee Review

1.0
12 June 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free Starbucks coffee, good benefits.

Cons

There has been a decision to 'right' source the clinical programming. That translates into a forcing out of senior programming talent and the expectation that the remaining staff will train the over seas programmers. Behind this is the assumption that programmers are commodities which can be replaced with cheaper units at no loss. The majority of the management of the programming staff are ex-statisticians with the attitude that the only reason anyone would program is because they couldn't make the grade as a statistician. Since they had programmed to do homework assignments in school they believe that they understand the issues inherent in clinical programming and any attempts to inject professional concepts of reuseability and standards are unnecessary and a waste of resources. 'Just program and shut up'

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5.0
16 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

people are friendly and easy to work with

Cons

daily commute takes longer than expected

2.0
25 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pays pretty well in comparison to similar jobs in the market

Cons

Unstable schedule where you are often asked to come in overnight (1-2 am) regardless of if you have worked the previous day or are off. Basically feels like you're permanently on-call to conduct environmental monitoring. Training is slow. The Micro dept in general is currently understaffed. The job also involves lab work once you are done with your daily environmental monitoring tasks. The work never ceases and the Technicians as a whole has several responsibilities. Promotions seem to come very slowly here.

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