MITRE Reviews

Pros

There are smart people and occasionally interesting work here. Wonderful infrastructure for remote work, but limited willingness to fully embrace this next-normal. Good security practices within the infrastructure. Pay is decent if you come here to start, but suffers wage inflation issues as you stay.

Cons

MITRE is a company in transition & likely decline. Some of the changes are due to COVID and some are due to an opportunistic CEO that is leveraging the situation to pivot the company to a REVENUE-FIRST model. The company is positioning itself to be a competitor to consulting firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton or Deloitte. They are not yet competitive in this field. Most of the employees are not seeking this new environment. Some employees are trapped by age or skill-atrophy. Some don't know any better (yet).

Pros

Work/Life balance is very good. Employees are encouraged to take leave and to limit their work to 80 hours every 2 weeks if at all possible. Retirement contributions are amazing! Corporate HQ life contains a number of fringe benefits like a cafeteria. Lots of social groups like board games, young professionals, etc.

Cons

Work in the remote sites doesn't have the same fringe benefits. Participating doctors/dentists are limited near some remote sites. MITRE has not embraced telework very well. The company first handled COVID very well and added tremendous flexibility to employees with regard to remote work. After initially promising employees this would be "The Next Normal" of remote work, they have gradually walked that back to once again asking employees to return to the office.

Pros

Work can have significant impact on important government decisions (level of impact varies by project). Great work/life balance. I routinely take all my PTOB when I want. The flexible work environment is fantastic. Amazing retirement contribution. I have personally had great career success (in terms of projects, promotions, and salary), but your mileage may vary. MITRE rewards self-starters who are willing to take leadership roles, develop good work, and have high technical skills.

Cons

Projects vary immensely in terms of goals, technical difficulty, and level of impact. It is impossible for everyone to work a high impact project at the same time. Many projects do not use the latest and greatest in technology. It is possible to fall behind the current state of the art. Then again, MITRE's primary sponsor is the USG who is often not using the newest technology. Often times, MITRE's role is to help modernize the USG.

Pros

Excellent cafeteria, training options internal and educational benefits external, onsite gym & gym classes, dedicated hardworking staff

Cons

Culture varies widely by department and manager preference. Compensation is inadequate and it is touted as a non-profit although there is tons of money spent constantly. I was underpaid by 20k and constantly had more work and people to support heaved on my shoulders until it was unbearable. I was in a "flat" structure which meant I had 4 supervisors. Initially I supported about 45 staff but it grew to 85 with no additional salary, support or understanding of my workload. Instead management deemed my performance inadequate and had me jump through hoops despite earning awards and boosting staff morale and running multiple programs during the pandemic. If you want to be gaslit and undermined - that's the place for you! My attempts at internal transfers were blocked and no assistance was given when trying to transfer which would have benefitted both sides. Support infrastructure exists but is hollow and programs only benefit some employees. I am literally still shocked by how senior staff and employees would speak to me and requests that were made. My requests for support were fruitless or ignored.

Pros

Large and stable place to work due to long-term government sponsorships. Not much pressure to generate new business or to work long hours on proposals Mostly nice colleagues and respect for work-life balance

Cons

Not the best for ambitious types Slow advancement beyond entry-level positions Poor people skills and people management systems Looking back, I am glad I left MITRE when I did. It is a large and somewhat stodgy non-profit government contractor that gets a slice of funding from federal agencies. Once known as a go-to systems engineering resource, it is now trying to rebrand itself under the confusing moniker “solving problems for a safer world.” At the working level, people are friendly and dedicated. Pay and benefits are good, but people management is poor. It is probably best for interns and entry-level young grads who can get quick experience on customer programs before moving on; and late careerists/retirees who want to coast into an easy work routine. If you are mid-career and ambitious or entrepreneurial, you are likely to get frustrated at the slow pace of advancement and roadblocks to delivering tangible products.

Pros

Top notch administrative support, facilities, resources, security, etc. Administrative functions treat you like you are important and care about how they take care of you. Very very rare. Almost no dead weight among the staff. Yes, some may underachieve but almost no dullards or phonies exist (almost is the key word). Virtually every one can lead or drive a project and is very intelligent. Most of what we work on is new and challenging. Most of us are very proud of MITRE.

Cons

Over collaboration. Large, diverse, teams collaborate real time to shape critical deliverables and whomever has the most political power gets final say for better or worse, even if they are not the subject matter experts. All the highly intelligent PhDs think they can read a couple of books and then speak knowledgeably about disciplines that they have little experience in. They do a pretty remarkable job but it would be better if they stayed in their swim lane. Many are inhibited and insecure. Some task leads think they know better and they don't. You have to play ball with them and the result is sub-optimal solutions. Some people guard their knowledge and work. I have seen some blatant plagiarism. Some take it for granted what they have.

Pros

Mitre's contribution to retirement is excellent, although they recently restructured the funds in the plan (probably to save MITRE money) and forced folks on a short notice to sell out of discontinued funds at a Loss... But hey, I am sure Jason's or Julie's bonus was bigger so that's all that matters.

Cons

Current leadership is attempting what they call "Good Growth". Good doesn't appear to be smart. Mitre has a long and illustrious history of operating FFRDCs for the government and providing expertise in scientific and engineering disciplines. A typical engagement is "A" or "THE" subject matter expert. Highly experienced and skilled individuals acting as trusted advisors to the Government is the business model. Current management appears to be set on abandoning that model in favor of hiring kids out of college, and new executives with no experience in the FFRDC model and increasing headcount. As leadership pursues the kids as employees, they have degraded the health benefits every year for almost ten years. Once a great place to work, MITRE is now lower middle, and only the retirement matching to recommend.