A very good place to work, it could be great, but MBDA is tying its own hands
Pros
There is a very nice relaxed culture here. The pace of work and expectations are very reasonable. The team have been very supportive in showing me the ropes. The work we do is important, all other jobs I've had feel pointless compared to this one. We're securing our country's future and it makes you feel proud. The work itself is very interesting and keeps you engaged. I was worried that the flexible working policies they advertise during recruitment were too good to be true, but in fact they are accurate, flexible working (in terms of location and time) is a massive benefit of working here. An amazing benefit if you have or are starting a family and this is the reason I chose to apply here in the first place. The on-site gym (Stevenage only) is small but cheap and well equipped, for me that is such a huge benefit. The other on-site facilities, subsidised canteens, bike servicing, etc are also great. Everybody is very friendly and supportive, I think this is the nicest place I've worked in terms of people's attitudes. This is my first job in defence and people have been accepting of my lack of knowledge in some areas and keen to help me get up to speed. They have also been very receptive to the experience and ideas I have brought with me. Line managers/leaders seem highly competent and have a wealth of experience, it feels like they care and want you to succeed. The offices are being renovated and the new ones are really nice. The commute (for me) is the best and shortest I've ever had.
Cons
No beating about the bush: salaries are low compared to equivalent London-based jobs. I would imagine MBDA lose out on a lot of talent because of this and their proximity to London. Besides the flexible working policies, the gym and the other on-site facilities, the other benefits are not worth even mentioning. It feels like the company is very stuck in its ways. There are things I find myself doing which feel like they could be massively streamlined. The company overall relies too much on written policy, so much so I would say it prevents innovation even at the lowest level. The "BMS" documents are the foundation of the company, but I would argue a lot of them are pointless and just hamstring you into a set of activities which contribute very little to your overall project's success. There seem to be a few initiatives to change things, but they seem to have years-long plans and involve very tepid steps towards their goals, so far I'm not convinced that any of these initiatives will deliver a meaningful change the company needs. Generally speaking, documentation is a mess within the company. I can count 12 examples of tools used for documentation/archival/access and I imagine most of these tools are half as old as I am. I'm sure there are more. Finding anything is a nightmare. Collaboration tools are also in desperate need of an upgrade, everybody uses Skype and Outlook. There is Mattermost, but it's not used widely.
