Cool place to work and grow, but not without cultural and organizational issues
Pros
- Get to work with some very smart and interesting people - Work can be challenging and complex, in an exciting way. Great for your resume. - If you're passionate about the mission and subject matter, you get decent exposure and access to it, even in administrative functions - You're contributing to a good cause - Good perks for a government job. Office equipment and administrative support were much better than the other federal agencies I've worked for. - Good pay, high GS levels for jobs compared to other fed agencies to attract premium employees.
Cons
- Work experience and environment are heavily dependent on your specific office and manager. Poor performers and toxic managers are rarely managed appropriately to improve or exit. - Workloads are often imbalanced due to the limited budget and a historical culture of 'get it done at any cost'. NASA has overworked itself into a corner after decades of delivering 'more for less', and the cracks are starting to show in both infrastructure and employee wellness. - The org structure is designed in a way that promotes tribalism and infighting over limited resources among the different mission directorates, centers, and mission support organizations. - Executive-level decision making and change is tremendously slow and risk avoidant due to the above mentioned tribalism combined with crowded council meetings required to get decisions approved.
