Incredible collaboration, opportunity in pockets - Strategy Lead Instrument Employee Review

4.0
Oct 25, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Strategy department is large and diverse (UX, brand, product) but alignment to what you truly want to do depends on Team assignment. Ask what team you'll be on, what client mix, and what type of projects are in the pipeline. - Truly creative and fun collaborators across writing and creative. - Organized, good process with good output, good tools and support, rigor across the board.

Cons

- It feels like a producer-led company, which I (and I lot of others) don't love, particuarly for creatives and strategists...make relationships with alllllll the leads, especially producer/account leads.

Explore other reviews about Instrument

5.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company with great people. Seamless life, work balance, and a very nice company culture.

Cons

No big cons as far as my concern. The pay can be slightly better, but it's okay compared to other agencies' standards.

3.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people here are great. Every team feels fairly connected, even for a 250+ person agency. Work/life balance is the best I've experienced at an agency so far. Pay is fair and scales depending on where you live and your experience overall. Work has the potential to be interesting, but most clients we bring in are not looking for ground-breaking work.

Cons

The benefits are not extraordinary, other than generous PTO. Recently removed a sabbatical program. Layoffs that come as a surprise, with scrambles only months later to fill the eliminated roles. Freelance hiring is hit or miss. Publicly-owned with a parent company that doesn't align with Instrument's morals. Leadership feels fairly disconnected and not genuinely interested in resolving the low morale amongst the larger team. Seemingly more interested in advertising themselves and using AI than in focusing on craft and high-quality projects. Constant leadership departures create anxiety.

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