MITRE Reviews

Pros

Full disclosure, I have been fairly critical of some of the decisions made by management in recent times. However, in the face of the current COVID-19 situation, I couldn’t be happier with how this entire company is responding. Executive leadership has been all over this even before it became a big deal in the US. They have demonstrated that their top priority is the safety and well-being of the employees. They have been encouraging remote work from the start and have been able to get some of the middle management who have been critical of telework on board with it. Their messaging has embodied the principals of emergency management by providing consistent and clear communications, which has not always been their strength. ECIS has really shined so far, especially with the steep increase in connections from outside the facilities. Several thousand employees were able to begin telework with only minor issues. Along with encouraging remote work, the company has offered a corporate iPhone to every employee working 20 or more hours per week. That’s several thousand mobile phones purchased in a week! Last but certainly not least, the entire MITRE workforce has shown a great deal of empathy and support for each other. People are being very cooperative with schedule changes, shift work, and picking up the slack when needed. They are also being very respectful and responsible when it comes to maintaining social distancing practices. I really feel a “we’re in this together” vibe among the staff right now.

Cons

Employees who perform largely classified work are having the hardest time with this sudden adjustment and in some cases still need to report to the facility. However, I have also seen risk mitigation by encouraging shifts and alternating days with this type of work.

Pros

Collaborative and smart colleagues, learning culture, opportunities to grow capabilities, mission-oriented focus, non-profit

Cons

Leadership under current CEO has been a continual revolving door, with recent lay-offs and a reorganization that is ill-timed during the COVID crisis and apparent financial health. The only people who are promoted know how to manage upward, and are not based on merit.

Pros

Impactful work; beautiful on-site accommodations; flexible schedules; great benefits

Cons

Uninspired leadership; organizational churn; unclear career paths and growth opportunities

Pros

MITRE offers a tremendous amount of autonomy and flexibility to employees. Most staff have the ability to traverse projects across MITRE's many FFRDC's. This allows staff to follow growth opportunities and get away from stagnant or less-impactful projects. On the personal side, MITRE's flextime benefit is amazing and allows you to make your own workday outside of obligations that have to be met (meetings and deliverable deadlines). Benefits are excellent and pay is good, although benefits have been slowly lessened in the past several years (health insurance cuts, paid time off flexibility, etc..) COVID response and ability of company to telework are impressive. Financials are incredibly strong. If you are in agreement with leadership's politics and don't mind treading the waters of bureaucracy to make a decent living, I would recommend MITRE to others.

Cons

MITRE culture has been rapidly deteriorating with the endorsement of certain political and social viewpoints/values (but not others). Likewise, C suite level leadership is a revolving door and the CEO has done a very poor job of implementing change, communicating vision, and keeping MITRE a non-partisan, apolitical place to perform impactful work for the US Government. Our campuses (headquarters) are top notch. Some sites are not. If you are applying for a position outside of Bedford or Mclean make sure you visit in person before accepting the position. MITRE is still top-heavy with a bunch of level 5 and 6 leadership that doesn't do much of anything. Technical career advancement can be tough, and most level 4's ad 5's (mid level employees) are non-technical to the point that it becomes burdensome to Level 1, 2, and 3 staff who actually have current engineering competency. Our organizational structure is not conducive to the way we aim to support our sponsors. This may change with the current re-organization, but I doubt it with Jason Providakes in charge.

Pros

Much intellectually interesting work, valuable work overall. Brilliant through Covid-19, never "missed a beat".

Cons

Emerging policial orientation. Entering next phase of corporate and inner cultural transformation.