Pros
Good entry level experience into networking if you have a drive to learn and take advantage of the education reimbursement. If you have a genuine passion for networking, it is a lot of fun to help manage the largest network in the nation. *Okay* stepping stone within Charter. (Much better to gain experience within Charter and then move on to greener pastures outside of Charter) Excellent 401k, additional retirement savings, *Okay* employee to employee culture.
Cons
The biggest con is first and descends in severity. Upper leadership either has no idea what they're doing or they simply do not care about the department beneath them. When I joined, I was told that the work is easy, no one gets fired, no one gets laid off, the benefits are amazing, and there's ton of upward mobility. Within one year of working at this company, I have witnessed two layoffs, one firing, being told directly by leadership there is no path to promote into a more technical role, and finally realizing the solid benefits are offset by poor salary. Finally, the culture within the Charter NOC is basically one of fear. If you make a mistake? Writeup. If you rely on vague documentation and make the 'wrong' decision? Writeup. Get on the bad side of a manager? They will find a way to give you a writeup. This behavior is encouraged and enforced by the Sr. Managers, Directors, and VPs. I am saying this from the perspective of someone who did not receive any of these write ups. Instead of producing proper tools and documentation to facilitate success, you are given tools/software that barely work and tribal knowledge and then punished if you mess up. Engineers have resorted to literally coding their own tools on their free time instead of relying on the department DEDICATED to create those tools, because they are so bad. Direct leadership has some genuine fellows and some of the most toxic individuals, A handful in particular manufacture completely false rumors simply for the love of the drama. Navigate it all with caution. The shifts are horrible, The shifts are divided into front half (Sun - Wed) and back half (Wed - Sat). If you are new, you will work nights (9pm - 7:30am). You will probably work back half nights for two or so years, until you can get into 2nd shift for front half nights. It cannot be understated how little mobility there is within the NOC, as long as you don't count openings created by all the layoffs. As of 2025, The pay for a Network Operations Engineer is poor relative to the market. If you are new into the field than this is fine. Going in from an Associate (50k starting) to six figures will take around 8 years, if you decide to stay at charter. Finally, my advice to you if you are looking at an opportunity at the NOC and have little IT / networking experience: take the education benefit, certify up, and go on to find better opportunities.