Hard to stay engaged when layoffs are always around the corner
Pros
Work life balance is pretty good. The remote nature of the engineering org means that people are accustomed to having some degree of delay in communication. Most managers are really great, and it's clear they want to help their direct reports grow. That feels less accurate as you move up to directors and beyond, but as an IC, most of the engineering managers I've worked with are great. For the most part everyone does a good job of "assuming positive intent". People go out of their way to help answer questions, and I've never encountered anyone that I would consider toxic or difficult to work with in my day-to-day.
Cons
For all leadership's talk of "the mission" and staying focused, Invitae has a habit of doing everything possible to keep employees from actually pursuing that mission. Reorgs are frequent, and never small in scale. These reorgs usually accompany a reduction-in-force (IE firing employees), the last of which came with no warning and removed an entire department that the engineering org relied on. It's very difficult to stay engaged with work when you're always warily looking over your shoulder, because you will get no warning if leadership decides your project or team is no longer working towards "the mission". Pay transparency was promised across organizations and career levels, then the decision was retconned with an explanation of "transparency means transparency at the leadership and org leader level" - essentially not at the individual level. So it's impossible to know if you're being paid inline with your peers - unless you check glassdoor frequently. Based on recent all-hands, it's clear leadership would rather employees focus on "the mission" than on their own compensation. So don't expect to grow a salary with raises or bonuses here. If you're interviewing and accept, make sure your base salary is something you'll be content with for your time at Invitae. Also be aware Invitae recruiters will likely try to offer you a lower salary than initially discussed. It's a horrible practice, but it's what they do right now.
