Pros
Unique organizational model. Decent pay and benefit package for full-time employees, affiliation with U of T, extended vacation and a few other perks. Interesting work overall, access to top scientists across disciplines, possibility of travel.
Cons
It’s a classic example of a reputable organization turning sour with management derailment. Senior management team shamelessly parasitizes past generations’ achievements and reputation of excellence. Extremely top-heavy, inflated job titles across departments. Major motivation is to fill in pockets and show off, even if this harms long-term projects. Management is enjoying inflated compensation (check the sunshine list, this info is public!), fancy travel and unlimited casual expenses (e.g., why not to have a meeting in some exotic country if it can be combined with safari?) International phone bills and other accumulated casual expenses sometimes are equal to/exceed program budgets. There is always $ available for management ‘needs’. Tons of money spent on designers, contractors, consultants, unnecessarily expensive events, all sorts of fancy perks and personal expenses. Wait a minute… is it a nonprofit organization? If only Canadian taxpayers could know what their dollars are spent on! Don’t be fooled by its fancy office: there is a lot of dirt hiding behind its luxurious facade. CIFAR is experiencing a high influx of utterly incompetent folks, and some of these have doubtful employment history. They contribute to the mess and ruin relationships with the scientific community. Senior management’s incompetence is appalling. Very often contradictory decisions affecting fundamental processes are made within a short period of time. Spontaneous decisions are common especially in relation to expensive, high risk projects that appear to be harmful/senseless for long-term activities and reputation as nobody thinks long-term anymore. High turnover, many people in key positions left/were pushed out/ laid off. There are some dedicated people struggling to get things done, but they deal with tons of stress – there is a lot of uncertainty due to never-ending restructuring. Restructuring occurs approximately twice a year, usually 1 to 4 employees are let go each time. This is significant for a less than 50-employee organization. Needless to say, morale is very low. There are no scientists left on the team, just admins, comms, fundraisers, etc. Maintaining research excellence and providing high quality services to Canadian research community is not a priority anymore. And if researchers are unhappy, it’s not a big deal, they will be recycled and replaced by new ones; newer programs and more marketable research areas are preferred. Management eye-rolls researchers’ complaints; they distract them from spending funds the way they feel like. The very concept of advanced research is completely discredited and misused. Any disagreeing staff will be recycled as well, so don’t ask questions and remember that you cannot afford your own opinion. With significant increase in funding based on its historic achievements (not current ones!) and new ambitious initiatives it’s biting more that it can chew with its present capacity and staff competencies. In fact, they’re hardly managing their regular program portfolio. Massive integrity issues across departments, it’s an ethics-optional environment (e.g., hiring friends and beaus via fake competitions, etc. – be prepared to witness things that will challenge your ethical standards). It seems like a bunch of people who were unwanted in other organizations for ethical misconduct thrive here. You need to have a certain personality type to blend in. Overall, it’s a dysfunctional organization with very poor inter/intra-departmental communication and very limited opportunities for growth unless you master brown-nosing: growth is not merit-based. Get ready to work with people who are all over the place (incompetent/inexperienced/self-centered). Set your expectations low! This toxic environment filled with unprofessional behavior will be harmful in any case. It’s a whirlpool of hectic activity and random projects to justify growing expenses. A lot will depend on one’s direct supervisor/department, as one’s experience can vary from so-so to awful. Think twice before going for any newly established positions. They might change their mind in a few months and eliminate this position or the whole department – it happened in the past, nobody cares if your career is ruined. HR is decorative and stressed out, so don’t expect any support in situations of misconduct/injustice. Staff performance is affected by frequent internal conflicts on senior level, lack of trust, respect and accountability, mediocre performance assessment system and poor data and financial management. If you’re cynical enough to take advantage of increased funding for the current term, go ahead, as everyone does the same thing. Sadly, at the moment it’s nothing more than a money grab.
