What is the company culture at Medpace?

Good training and education if you do not have experience in the industry

Pretty much everything else, but the pay is way lower than in the industry. There is a toxic work culture, a lot of nepotism, poor benefits, and no work flexibility.

Colleagues in the same situation as you, so really trauma bonded together

- Unclear from the outset regarding benefits. On Interview told 6-month probation and then you can work from home. In reality it’s after your 6th full month - so even if you start on the 2nd you have to work 7 months before receiving benefits. - Lack of flexibility regarding work from home, personal appointments. Grandparent dies, ‘sorry you can’t take bereavement leave’. Have a hospital appointment on a ‘together Tuesday’. Sorry since you can’t work from home you have to book annual leave - You are micromanaged to a level I have never experienced before. - There is one rule for management and one for everyone else. You have to apply to be fully remote and this is denied despite meeting the criteria outlined in the (very hidden) employee handbook unless you are a director - Payrises this year were below inflation resulting in a real terms pay cut. This is despite the fact that I received an exceptional annual review. - No support in a managing workload. In fact you are punished for raising issues and taken off/given more studies as a punishment - Expected to work over contracted hours pretty much every day - aCTM training is a shambles. You spend your first month watching dull power points and when you ask for help you are told to work it out. - Breakfast and Learn neither has breakfast or learning. Used as a torture session to bully associates and dangle promotion as a reward - Promotions are not consistent -CEO must approve all decisions which results in lack of clarity and promotions being denied or agreed based on feelings or whether a senior director likes you or not - When issues are raised they are blamed on your lack of ability to handle the workload or that you are not suited to the role. This is despite multiple complaints from different people - The maternity leave policy is shocking, and is reflective on how little the company cares about its staff. This actively discouraged those from having families and the lack of flexibility for working parents is disgusting. - The whole company is toxic. I don’t know anyone who isn’t looking to leave in the immediate future. Those who stay are tied in by the non-compete and three month notice period

Will hire new grads with no experience Teams work hard and are supportive

Morale has been quite terrible lately due to denied promotions/raises in the last year and recent changes in our work from home policies. Upper management has blamed inflation and parking issues in Cincinnati for these changes, which really is just confusing and a little insulting. I am most disappointed with the poor communication surrounding the new return to office policy. Two weeks is not enough time to adjust to the reduced flexibility, and this abrupt change will cause unnecessary stress for families that were not expecting to lose work from home. This transition could have been handled much better. While I love my team and the people I work with, decisions made by upper management (abrupt return to office, exit badge swipes, firing over WFH non-compliance), lackluster benefits (no paid parental leave, high deductible insurance, three-year vesting timeline for 401K), and the non-competes (preventing employees from leaving an unsupportive environment) have left a bad taste in my mouth. I am not confident that upper management is leading the company in the right direction.

People are nice but you can find good colleagues anywhere.

Not enough desks for all employees, short about 1k parking spots, no flexibility and rapidly decreasing work from home options. Positions that could be performed fully remote are required to come in more for zero reason. Most likely to fund the financially failing eatery. Have a sick child and need to WFH to take care of them? Too bad. Have a family member dying in the hospital and need to WFH? Sucks to be you. Have car issues and can't drive in but are still available to work remotely? That's your problem. Things used to be pretty good here with good moral. It's been downhill for a year and everyone is jumping ship. Probably because the CEO told everyone to leave in the quarterly meeting anyways. To top everything off, the bridge reconstruction causes everyone's commute to double in length. Any flexibility to help with parking or commute? Absolutely not.

- company is growing well - co-workers are supportive and helpful - reasonable pay - beautiful office with sufficient amenities

1. Unfair Treatment and Favoritism: - Management displays a clear double standard by allowing some individuals to misuse work-from-home privileges while closely monitoring lower-ranked employees and colleagues from different teams. - Senior management lacks transparency regarding extended flexible maternity leave and work-from-home arrangements for mid-level managers who do not properly record their absences, thus failing to adhere to the global policy on work-from-home privileges. 2. Power Harassment in APAC with HR Inaction: - In APAC, senior management engages in verbal intimidation of lower-ranked employees to enforce compliance and suppress dissent. - Additionally, senior management exerts their authority to influence supervisor assessments, contributing to a hostile work environment. 3. Transfer Barriers by APAC Senior Management: - APAC senior management imposes restrictions on project coordinators' ability to choose their preferred therapeutic area, directing them to work exclusively in Oncology and hindering transfer requests. 4. Ineffective Mid-Management: - The manager lacks essential skills to provide adequate team support and primarily delegates tasks without making substantive contributions. - Furthermore, the manager's deficiency in presentation skills and minimal contributions add undue pressure on team members to handle presentation tasks, despite their capability to do so. 5. Imbalance in Social Engagement Expectations: - There is an imbalance in social engagement expectations, with management emphasizing participation in social activities but failing to contribute actively. - Some favored employees enjoy excessive administrative hours for social activities, while others are unfairly burdened with project tasks and stigmatized as lacking in communication skills.

Staff is nice, there is a gym, a lot of social events

Onboarding is terrible, little to no training, limited opportunities to advance. Recent loss of work from home flexibility.

A good way to obtain industry experience. Co-workers are generally nice.

Company morale continues to decline. The decision to reduce the number of WFH days and flexibility has only added to the reduced morale. Company wide updates have been rolled out in a very chaotic and disorganized way. High performing workers continue to get additional work and are told to figure it out, while low performing workers are able to skate by with less work and reduced responsibility with the hopes they can’t ruin what they’re given. Escalations are usually met with a shoulder shrug.

I enjoy my line manager and immediate co-workers.

Lack of transparency: Lack of communication and transparency in timelines for promotions, transfers and expectations (from upper management). Although my direct line manager tells me what she can, upper management is not sharing enough details with her and the timing of promotions/transfers/merit, etc. are continually pushed out without warrant. There is also no 'you can improve on this' before you can be promoted, etc. It is very much who upper management simply likes. Compensation/benefits: This week the company cold turkey took away merit and bonus from those who used extra work from home time. This was not communicated in any sense over the last year and WFH time has generally been at manager and employee discretion (unless there were performance issues). It would have been understandable if employees were informed of this mid-year, however we were not and were instead blind-sided with news that we do not qualify for merit/bonus. This affected not only entry/lower-level employees, but also director level employees and above. Let's also talk about pay and merit in general. Medpace pays significantly below the industry standards. HR will tell you otherwise, but that is the truth. Merit and bonus are also not applicable if you take the 12 weeks you are LEGALLY allowed to take for maternity leave. Maternity care and rights: Do not become a mother at this company. You will not get paid during your maternity leave (outside of FMLA, which is 60% for either 4 or 6 weeks depending on the type of delivery). You can only use the amount of PTO you have accrued (although if you were not on medical leave, you could use ALL of your PTO right away and if you left, you'd just have to pay it back later if not accrued). You will also lose PTO during this time, so when you do come back it is prorated based to only the time you truly worked that year. In addition to this, pumping in the office is nearly impossible. People book the designated rooms for calls, naps, and other unnecessary things. HR will not address this issue and will simply tell you that they cannot help. Despite the fact that Medpace is legally required to provide ample time/space/allocations for a mother who requires to pump breast milk while at work. They do not care. Work from home/remote work: Industry standard is that most of these roles are fully remote or mainly work from home. Initially after COVID, Medpace was improving their WFH policy, however they have suddenly taken this perk away by adding mandatory in-office 'Together Tuesdays' which require you to take sick time/PTO if you cannot physically be in office no matter the reason (i.e. sick child, dr. appt that requires you to flex time, inclement weather, you are sick enough to not come in but not sick enough to take PTO). This has resulted in unnecessary use of valuable PTO/sick time and we are only in March so far. As of this week, they also revoked all merit and bonus for anyone who used too much WFH time. This was determined based on badge swipes. It has nothing at all to do with employee productivity, performance, etc. Discrimination: I think it is clear from the above that this company does not value females with children. As soon as I became a mother, my value and sense of appreciation in my role has severely diminished. Kids get sick, coming in office everyday (when it previously wasn't a requirement) is challenging sometimes. This company does not care. The fact that you are ineligible for a bonus simply for taking maternity leave should be illegal.

Will hire new grads with no experience Teams work hard and are supportive

Morale has been quite terrible lately due to denied promotions/raises in the last year and recent changes in our work from home policies. Upper management has blamed inflation and parking issues in Cincinnati for these changes, which really is just confusing and a little insulting. I am most disappointed with the poor communication surrounding the new return to office policy. Two weeks is not enough time to adjust to the reduced flexibility, and this abrupt change will cause unnecessary stress for families that were not expecting to lose work from home. This transition could have been handled much better. While I love my team and the people I work with, decisions made by upper management (abrupt return to office, exit badge swipes, firing over WFH non-compliance), lackluster benefits (no paid parental leave, high deductible insurance, three-year vesting timeline for 401K), and the non-competes (preventing employees from leaving an unsupportive environment) have left a bad taste in my mouth. I am not confident that upper management is leading the company in the right direction.

I’ve had a positive experience as a software developer at Medpace. The work ties directly to clinical research, so it feels meaningful, and there’s plenty of room to learn by doing. From day one, I had real ownership over features and got exposure across the stack—requirements, implementation, testing, and deployment—which accelerated my learning far more than in purely maintenance-focused roles. Strong work culture: professional, mission-driven, and collaborative. Excellent hands-on exposure: proprietary tools, end-to-end projects, and real impact on clinical workflows. Learning environment: structured onboarding and continuous training make it ideal for early-career developers or anyone transitioning into healthcare tech. Supportive leadership: managers are accessible, give clear feedback, and invest in growth. Helpful teammates: colleagues are approachable, code reviews are constructive, and there’s a genuine spirit of mentorship. Overall, Medpace is a great fit if you value meaningful projects, fast learning cycles, and supportive teams. If you’re looking to build practical skills quickly in a regulated, impact-focused domain, this is a strong choice.

The strictness of the policy is often cited alongside other "old-school" corporate policies—such as strict 8.5-hour logging and limited remote work—making it harder for the company to compete for top-tier software engineering talent who prioritize flexible, modern work cultures. Misaligned Industry Standards: For software developers accustomed to a tech-first culture (where jeans and hoodies are the norm), the requirement for business casual attire feels outdated and unnecessary for roles with no client-facing interaction.