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    MDA Reviews

    Updated 9 January, 2019
    172 reviews

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    3.4
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    MDA Group President, MDA Mike Greenley
    Mike Greenley
    7 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "I feel that they promote work life balance" (in 12 reviews)

    • "The work is interesting and keeps employees engaged" (in 12 reviews)

    Cons

    • "Low pay compared to other organizations in Vancouver" (in 9 reviews)

    • "Massive purge of upper management occurred to detoxify the culture" (in 8 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great people make good companies"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Buildin Operation Manager in Montreal, QC
      Current Employee - Buildin Operation Manager in Montreal, QC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Passionate employees makes MDA a motivating environment to work in.
      Most of the structure and process are lean and very efficient considering the field of the business.
      MDA offers a work environment which is an example to follow.

      Cons

      Aerospace is a bumpy business

    2. "Great place to learn"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Comp & Benefits
      Former Employee - Software Engineer III in Richmond, BC
      Former Employee - Software Engineer III in Richmond, BC

      I worked at MDA full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      They teach some good software engineering processes and the domain is very interesting. Great people too.

      Cons

      The pace of innovation is quite slow. Salaries are a bit low, but the flex-time policy was great.

      Advice to Management

      Invest more in innovation.

      3. Join the MDA team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (6)

      "(HFX) New Hires - Be Warned"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dartmouth, NS
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dartmouth, NS
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time

      Pros

      * Great Pay
      * Decent benefits
      * Seems like some parts of the workforce are good to work with

      Cons

      * Horrendously disorganized
      * Massive purge of upper management occurred to detoxify the culture
      * Remaining middle management still saturated with abusive and toxic people
      * Absolutely no on-boarding for new employees, basically given a laptop and expected to be productive on day two.
      * Outrageous expectations to immediately be productive on massive projects without any on-boarding or guidance
      * Extremely confused management layer
      * Expectations set in interviews were misleading or completely false
      * New hires thrust into absolute disaster projects

      Advice to Management

      * Crack down more on the toxic team members (especially the sr architects)
      * Don't lie to employees in their interviews
      * Come up with at least a basic on-boarding plan to acclimate new hires
      * Crack down on harassement and bullying by mid/sr leadership

    4. "Its okay but not great"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at MDA full-time

      Pros

      Benefit
      A lot of bright minds

      Cons

      Low salary
      Old process, and not willing to change

      Advice to Management

      Add automation at all level of design and implementation

    5. Helpful (1)

      "Stimulating Environment"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Buyer/Planner in Montreal, QC
      Current Employee - Buyer/Planner in Montreal, QC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      I am really enjoying working at MDA. The environment is stimulating and the corporate culture is great. I feel that they promote work life balance. It is fast paced (which I like). There is a gym, exercise classes and good health/dental benefits. Everyone I have dealt with is very professional and courteous. People really care about their work and strive to contribute to the success of the company.

      Cons

      Fast paced (which can be a pro and a con). Workload is high at times. Some of the processes can be redundant and tedious. Not all the software is user friendly and transactions can take a lot of time.

      Advice to Management

      Continue to be transparent and communicate with employees. Continue to work on improving processes and procedures to make work more streamlined, efficient and less tedious. Continue to invest in your employees and they will be more productive and dedicated.

    6. "Working at MDA"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Richmond, BC
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Richmond, BC
      Recommends

      I worked at MDA full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      The work was always very engaging, the people who work there are some of the best people I have ever worked with. My learning and relationship building skills were greatly improved during my time there. MDA has a great learning mindset and encourages learning in many different ways, including the MDAU through which I took many courses.

      Cons

      As this is a project based company, it can be demoralizing to see people who are good at what they do, struggle to find a new project to join when their current project is coming to a close.

      Advice to Management

      I had a wonderful boss who ranks one of my all time favourites, who I will continue to remember lessons from and attempt to emulate. Upper Management in my direct line, was always approachable and I would recommend that all managers there keep their open door policy.

    7. "Working for MDA"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time

      Pros

      MDA has a great dental/health plan, and a lot of other great perks.

      Cons

      1. There is a six month probation before I get sick days. For each day I call in sick within the six month probation, I have to lose a day's work. That doesn't make any sense, and I believe this company policy should be reviewed.
      2. No official training department. I was being trained on computer programs from other employees.

      Advice to Management

      1. MDA should get rid of the six month probation for sick days. There is no probation for dental/health benefits, there shouldn't be one for sick days.
      2. MDA should have a training department, or at the very least send a new employee to receive the necessary training, or send the instructors to the employee.

    8. Helpful (1)

      "Great place to work!"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Brampton, ON
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Brampton, ON
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Challenges, ability to learn and grow. Lots of exciting changes happening as part of Maxar now and really looking forward to them.

      Cons

      Over the years communication from senior management has been all or nothing. This is changing and needs to be consistent.

    9. "great atmosphere"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dartmouth, NS
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dartmouth, NS
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      lots of energetic, outgoing people. New ideas and technology

      Cons

      newer facility to accommodate new hires

    10. "Its not Google, but it also isn't Wal-mart"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      Current Employee - Engineer in Brampton, ON
      Current Employee - Engineer in Brampton, ON
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MDA full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      -Lots of time off available and flexibility
      -Overtime is paid
      -The work is interesting and challenging if you are on a good project
      -The Brampton office has been developing in new sectors allowing for a wide range of opportunities to gain experience
      -Employees for the most part are great to work with and are all very talented
      -There seems to be a genuine desire by management to examine the business critically and improve the status quo.

      Cons

      -If you don't get along with your PM you are going to have a bad time
      -Some of the business processes prioritize control over agility
      -Long commute if you live in Toronto
      -No access to rapid public transit

      Advice to Management

      -Find a way to give employees the autonomy to develop the business in new innovative ways.
      -Get an office near a GO Station or the TTC if you want to retain young(er) talent