Good for entry level candidates, poor career growth opportunities after
Pros
Always hiring for their federal contracts. Fairly easy to get in. Benefits are ok for the DMV area. Not much to say here since I don't ever come into direct contact with Bigbear.ai HR/employees. You are shipped off to work on a contract with other contractors and thats that.
Cons
No real management present. When you are shipped off to work a federal contract, you can say goodbye to all your company managers and HR. On one hand its nice, on the other, it feels like an excuse to be lazy and not keep up with your employees growth. I have been with the company 3+ years and in the industry 5+ years. My title according to them is STILL a junior software engineer. I do not want to sound whiny or privileged but the kind of work I started doing was definitely NOT junior level. I was developing and shipping applications BY MYSELF around 1 year into this position. I blame lack of communication and accountability from management. Another thing to note, if you are remote you can kiss any kind of serious promotions goodbye as well. The federal contract managers love their bureaucracy and value your knowledge of their managerial processes/protocols more than your technical expertise. The pay is also not great compared to positions of a similar level at other companies. ($125k for 5+ year dev) Livable wage if you are single/don't have a family, but when you are the sole income for your household then don't expect the company to care. This is a good place to start your career b/c the job can be cushy at times so I recommend using that time to build yourself up and apply elsewhere while you are using this job to get up off your feet financially.