Pros
Context Partners is a small, thoughtful Portland-based design studio that invests a lot of time into our client work and internal employee engagement. It is an incredibly positive work environment where you are almost never reprimanded for trying something new and you have a lot of latitude to line up the resources that you need for project work. Coworkers are the real highlight of the job – a true pleasure, where 100% of the people are smart, caring, and genuinely support and look out for each other. Many have each other over for dinner and go camping together outside of work. The design work that we do for clients is incredibly varied (we work with non-profits, for-profits, domestic, and international organizations – a real mix), so while there are themes in our work, no two projects are exactly the same. We have twice annual in-person all-staff retreats and I think most of us feel very lucky to have such a supportive, stimulating work environment where we get to regularly engage with interesting people doing interesting, important work around the globe!
Cons
We have growing pains like any small company and there is often not a "process" for many things. There is a lot of autonomy, so if you are hungry for the structure of a larger studio, this would not be a good fit. There have been moments over the company's history where there hasn't been as much transparency around decisions but overall I trust that everyone on staff, including leadership, is committed to doing the right thing. The leadership here is very hard-working and responsive, so even when a difficult or wrong decision is made, there is usually an attitude of learning and improvement.