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Lawrence Berkeley Lab

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Okay - not great, not bad - Office of Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Berkeley Lab Employee Review

3.0
Jun 20, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Work-life balance is excellent. -Nice number of holidays and vacation time -Lots of interesting and important research comes out of LBNL -Decent job security as long as you are not a total slacker

Cons

This place is run by scientists with little to no background experience in running or managing a business. This could be good or bad depending on what you do. If you are doing research, that's probably a plus for you. But as a Business/Finance professional that means there are not many opportunities to grow here. Functions in the Office of the CFO are treated by lab management as administrative annoyances - hindrances to research - rather than functions that can add value to the organization. The lab produces science, not profits, so the relative importance of Finance is diminished. To make things more difficult, because the lab is government funded, there are layers of red-tape and paperwork required of the CFO staff that makes what should be simple tasks unnecessary complicated. Researchers here don't understand these burdens and therefore just assume the CFO staff is incompetent - which is not the case. This leads to mistrust and mutual frustration. In short, if you are in a Business/Finance/Operations type function, and are looking to build a career, this is probably not the place for you. Stick to the corporate world. If you are in a later stage of your career and looking to coast into retirement, this place is probably a pretty good option.

Explore other reviews about Lawrence Berkeley Lab

5.0
May 4, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interesting work and beautiful environment

Cons

Space can be a bit tight

3.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Beautiful location, you oversee the Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and SF. Research environment, great bridge for academics to transition to a more applied research. Benefits quite good

Cons

Low wages, especially in the scientific staff. Basically no career progression. Offices are a mixed bags (some departments have brand new buildings, others have very old buildings). Do not rely on their immigration services to get anything beyond temporary work visas.

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