Pros
- You help shape the company. From day one managing partners welcome you as one of them. They value and take into consideration your views and opinions. They want and expect you to help shape the company, its strategy, and participate in all major decisions for the company. Managing partners are transparent and open about all management decisions - You do interesting and relevant work. You learn a lot about the lives and people of the countries we work in. From the design stage through field work, and during the analysis phase of every project you have the chance to increase your understanding about the realities of the countries we work in. You get the opportunity to present Laterite’s work to high-level Government, International Organization, NGO, and private sector officials on relevant matters that shape policy and programs. You see the impact of your research! - You have space to grow personally and professionally. Laterite is a fast-growing company that offers a lot of space for personal and professional development. You are encouraged to take initiative and explore your areas of interest so that you can learn new skills and develop new areas of expertise - You will never face a dull day. Laterite offers a fast-paced and challenging environment that pushes you to expand your knowledge on a wide range of topics (research, finance, business development, corporate strategy, HR, etc.) - You have flexibility. Laterite offers a lot of flexibility to work remotely so you can extend your visits home or explore the country/region you work in. If you have or are starting a family (as was my case), you get good parental leave plus additional flexibility to work remotely so you can be with your family - You work with an amazing team. Laterite’s team is an incredible group of people who are smart, professional, fun, committed, diverse, interesting, international, and that makes going to work a real pleasure, every day! - You work in a company with drive. From field work and analysis to operations and finance, at Laterite there is a constant drive to improve and innovate on the work the company does - You work in a company that cares. Laterite is truly committed to be a great place to work, to provide the highest quality of services to its clients, and to produce excellent research that is technically sound and relevant. Laterite has a genuine interest in helping clients solve their research problems to improve policies and programs; and is genuinely interested in working in projects with social impact that can help improve people’s lives (even if indirectly) in developing countries
Cons
- Growing pains. Due to fast growth and international expansion, leadership sometimes struggles to build the necessary institutional structure to support this fast-paced growth - Going above (way above) and beyond (way beyond). In their commitment to offer great services and do super interesting work, managing partners sometimes overcommit to additional deliverables beyond a project’s scope of work. This is part of what makes working at Laterite very interesting but, can add up to more time commitment from an already busy team