Generally positive experience for engineers; suggest more emphasis on professional development
Pros
Senior management has been pushing an inclusive culture and healthy work-life balance for many years. I find this is also true for my own program team's management. The consistency is great to see. Modified / flexible time arrangements allow employees who work extra hours to take equal time off later (or sometimes receive overtime pay), which is an admirable and fair arrangement. We are fortunate to have this. Professional development opportunities are available through off-hours training and networking. There are opportunities to get involved with internal / independent R&D projects (IRADs) and other innovative work. There is funding available for them, though you have to do a little legwork to find concrete ways to get involved. Engineering management is pushing digital transformation (model-based engineering, open architecture, digital twins etc.) in line with DOD priorities, which is admirable. However, this has not trickled down to my program yet...I'm looking forward to this and trying to make it happen where I can.
Cons
Professional development requires a personal time commitment (on top of regular work), so you need to be motivated and have personal time available. Hours are sometimes unpredictable and may spike around deadlines (especially for team leaders) but I imagine this is true in many jobs. It's not as bad as it could be! My team is good about helping each other, but I think we can do better at de-conflicting deadlines.
