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      MDA

      Engaged Employer

      MDA reviews

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      3.6

      75% would recommend to a friend

      (642 total reviews)
      avatar

      Mike Greenley

      53% approve of CEO

      67% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.9

      Work/Life balance

      3.8

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.4

      Culture & values

      3.4

      Career opportunities

      3.1

      Compensation and benefits

      2.8

      Senior management

      MDA has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 642 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The MDA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aeroespacial y defensa industry (3.6 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      642 reviews
      4.0
      Sep 13, 2009

      MDA Space Missions

      Senior systems engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The work can be very interesting. In general, the staff is well educated, very competent, and easy to work with. It's a relatively relaxed work environment. There can be many opportunities to learn some very unique skills. There can be a very engaging social atmosphere.

      Cons

      The work load can be cyclical, with occasional down-times between major programs. The quality of the work assignments can be very dependent on which department you work in. The technical staff is part of a collective bargaining unit. The pay is a bit below standard.

      4.0
      Jul 23, 2008

      Management skills trails MDA's technical growth

      systems engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      This is a technology company with a very wide range of projects ranging from electronics through software, spacecraft and space systems. Technical staff are almost never bored, are always challenged to be better, or faster, or smarter and this is a good thing for people who enjoy these challenges. Many staff have been there (Richmond) for many years and some continue to return after working elsewhere. You are not there because you are an expert, in many cases you become the expert after being assigned to a task! Climbing a learning curve quickly is a skill you learn. The scope of projects varies widely, from simple re-delivery of an existing design based on a couple of computers and software products, to complete end-to-end design and specification of a large-scale space-based remote-sensing system costing hundreds of millions. There's room for many skills here, not least of which is understanding how to manage such large projects. Contrary to some environments, the risk of failure is not foremost in your mind as you work. Technical and business managers are helpful in understanding and helping to resolve whatever issues arise and there always are issues.

      Cons

      Some of the senior staff are focussed on solving issues or completing tasks the same way the same time with the same people. Some staff are labelled with their skills and become stuck repeating the same job over and over. Resisting this environment is a professional challenge. Despite an in-house technical training program (project management, technical management, various software and systems disciplines), the project-orientation results in almost no local expert pools, such as database, man-machine interface, or what other organizations deem advanced development skills such as simulation, preliminary development, etc. The technical bias is to repeat yesterday's solution. As a result, the wide range of technical approaches is rarely expanded beyond what skills were known to work last time round. The company is widely recognized for risk-management, and the ability to deliver on-time and on-budget. The downside to this is that, for technical staff, the risk-averse environment leads to some pretty silly technical decisions. Risk management does not require risk avoidance, and a little experimentation goes a long way to mitigate a risk. Don't try this at this workplace, however.

      4.0
      Jun 12, 2008

      Like it!

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Working in a compagnie with a lot of challenges. Very interresting projects to work on.

      Cons

      Not very much to complain.

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