Pros
Staff: Brilliant scientists and genuinely interesting colleagues make for an inspiring environment. Processes: The culture is warm and humane, but your experience will largely depend on your manager. I’ve been lucky in that regard.
Cons
Staff: While there are many talented professionals, some long-timers seem more focused on maintaining their status than contributing meaningfully to the work. Internal politics are quite present, especially at the C-level and below. Also, although the organization promotes a 35-hour workweek as a perk, I consistently worked closer to 40–45 hours. That may have been just my experience, but I doubt the benefit is applied consistently across teams. Processes: The organization is becoming increasingly slow and bureaucratic, with a “too big to fail” mindset. It’s not as inefficient as some multilateral institutions, but it’s certainly not the most agile NGO I’ve worked with either.