Exciting projects found within a monstrosity of a company
Pros
Work on some of the largest and most advanced defense contracts the DoD has awarded Very flexible work schedule 9/80 schedule, i.e. every other Friday off is usually the "norm". Expect to work some off-Fridays though. Vacation accrual, i.e. rollover hours between calendar years up to generous maximums Paid overtime when working extra hours (has to be authorized, but that's usually pretty easy. Just 1x pay though, no time-and-a-half or anything) Loss of contracts or proposal does not mean you will get laid off. The company does a great job of finding employees other work when projects close out. Overall very friendly co-workers and some brilliant minds One of the most demographically diverse environments I've ever worked, especially considering the engineering industry Management is experienced and usually keeps the employee insulated from managerial nuisances They will pay for your education with generous applications of "the rules" in your favor. I have never taken advantage myself, but I've heard so many great things about the "EdAssist" program I have to mention it.
Cons
Fairly average pay and benefits, nothing special. 401k match maxes out at 7% for new employees, if you contribute 8%. Bonuses are only for top performers, based on your management performance review. They limit the recipients to ~10% at each level, so if you're new and below level 4 - good luck. Even if you get one, the amount is so small you don't even care to try the next year. I've seen about 3% of my gross salary one year when I was awarded the "top" level of review. Don't expect anything beyond your base salary. Absolutely no company-sponsored extras, i.e. no work-related parties, no freebies, no perks, not even break rooms or TVs in their so-called flagship campus "Space Park" in Redondo Beach. This campus is a historical wonder, but a modern-day joke for such a large company to still be working in. Enormous corporation (80,000+ employees) means you cannot even begin to understand the high-level management structure. You will see congratulatory emails about VIP-level promotions for people you have not only never heard of, but couldn't even figure out their role if you tried. Almost all of NG's business is from government contracts, most of which are defense related and a large portion of those classified SCI (the biggest exception is probably James Webb Space Telescope) This means lots of overhead, red-tape and process bloat. Be prepared for a one-line software code change to take 6 months and cost $1 million. SIGH. Business travel can be frequent, depending on your project. The business travel rules are nuts and an absolute nightmare to work though since you have to adhere to the government FAR regulations. Booking a short domestic trip can be way more trouble than necessary, especially when submitting expenses on the return.
