Pros
I came from a large insurance broker based in London that had a focus on shareholder value and employees were not the priority as a result. Employees were expected to work beyond contracted hours to deliver customer service but it wasn't adequately resourced. I have been at MBDA for 8 months and had the completely opposite experience (in a positive way). Yes it is busy because of the rapid expansion but the business is working to rapidly recruit and my management do check in to confirm workloads are manageable. MBDA also provides Dynamic working so I can take a longer lunch to gym and make up the hours later on or on another day. There is also the benefit of overtime which can be paid or taken back as time owed. MBDA is very transparent regarding reward/recognition and confirms in advance the % uplift for salaries depending on your year end review/score. Performance is directly linked to reward through goals that are set at the start of the year. There are periodic team/department events to get together and socialise. Everyone that I have met has been friendly and supportive and its a nice environment to work in. I enjoy going into the office as a result. There are onsite canteens where food/drink is partially subsidised. Pricing is very good and so is the quality. Great variety of foods and there is something for everyone. Lots of tables to sit at both inside and outside and is a great way to socialise with people. Another factor that was important to me was whether the business was an inclusive organisation. Coming from a global insurance broker in London, I was concerned regarding the stigma that can be attached to defence organisations in respect of Equality/Pride. I saw that MBDA outlined its focus in this area but I was still nervous on whether I could be myself. Once I joined I was surprised to see how many people had pride lanyards/stickers and how many people were open about their sexuality etc. This put me at ease straight away and is something I value about working at MBDA. MBDA also has networks to bring people together and look at how each network can evolve over time to deliver on their own set objectives/initiatives. What has been impressive to see is the rate of expansion and investment into the UK sites. There is focus to evolve, improve and deliver and the facilities/working spaces for employees are being renewed/updated as well. Because of this expansion, there has been a focus on recruiting and its been interesting to see people from a variety of industries in/outside of defence coming together and sharing different perspectives/views. This is bringing some positive change to MBDA. I took a gamble to leave my previous employment but I am very happy that I have moved to MBDA and believe I work for a company that cares, has a strong team dynamic. The business activities matter and are interesting to be a part of.
Cons
MBDA has a matrix structure and does not have a typical triangle structure. It takes time to understand this structure and who does what within the business as a result. Equipment from a hardware perspective is generally pretty good but systems/applications are pretty poor e.g. only 32 bit rather than 64 bit with Office which does provides performance issues (MBDA is testing 64 bit with the view of rolling this out). Also because MBDA is defence, there are restrictions on what systems/applications can be used because of where data is stored. I find this restrictive to efficiency as a result and MBDA is a bit behind non-defence companies as a result (e.g. do not currently have full Teams and virtual meeting platforms are completely rubbish and outdated). The business is working to overhaul this and there are some positive steps being taken but it will take some time to get to a good level.
