Opterus Reviews

2.8

42% would recommend to a friend

(8 total reviews)

Thomas Murphey

Not enough data to show CEO approval

13% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

8 reviews
2.0
1 Apr 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There were many great things about working at Opterus; the team was excellent (personally and technically), the product had a chance of disrupting the market, and endless opportunities existed to really stretch the mind with engineering challenges. These reasons are why the review has 2 stars rather than 1.

Cons

The owner/CEO/COO/CTO/whatever, Tom Murphey: as scathing as the previous review speaking to Tom's abilities as a leader is, sadly, it's spot on. When interviewing, Tom will pitch himself as a "servant leader" where he leads you to think that his role is to provide you help as needed to achieve a common goal. When what you propose to do coaligns with what he wants to do, all is well; however, if what you propose to do is inconsistent to what he wants to do, there's zero room for discussion/collaboration, you get patronized and belittled, and at the end of the day, Tom gets what Tom wants, which most of the time is unjustified. So, in the end, you have no authority to make decisions, but rather are there to more or less carry out Tom's half-baked vision for an aerospace company. He undermines everyone behind their back, and fails to build up the staff who are trying desperately to make the very difficult and nuanced products work. Also, there has been a history of employees, specifically those closest to Tom in the org chart (most of them very well qualified), get fired out of the blue, so be prepared to be kicked to the curb at any time if you take a leadership role here.

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Opterus Response
2y
Thank you for your review and feedback. Despite common goals among all, structuring a team and processes to be successful is challenging. Collaboration is a core value Opterus uses to achieve success – collaboration appears twice in our mission statement. Other core values are enjoyment of work, shared rewards, and honesty. But not everyone will agree on the path to success, especially when it impacts them personally. Ideas from all members of Opterus are valued and discussed. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that misalignment between what a team says they need and what an individual wants will occur. When individual employee views continually misalign with the team, it causes disruption, confusion, and frustration. Conflict resolution falls on top management and can appear as unilateral decisions, particularly when reasons cannot be discussed out of respect for privacy. When all other paths have been exhausted, it is management’s responsibility to do what is best for the team and make appropriate changes.
1.0
17 Jun 2024

I adjure you to stay away from this company.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Besides the owner, Opterus employees are kind and enjoyable to work with. Many employees are very passionate about the technology they’re developing.

Cons

The owner, Tom Murphey, makes this a very toxic work environment. He is a bully with a history of abusive conduct including yelling and cursing at his employees for no reason. If you want to work for someone who excessively monitors, criticizes, or nitpicks your work, then apply to Opterus. On the other hand, if this repeated intentional behavior that degrades, humiliates, or embarrasses the recipient sounds unbearable then stay far away. Consider this evidence – since January 2024 the company has had a 35% turnover rate within a six-month span! To make matters worse, this high turnover rate is not uncommon, but seems to happen every year. Routinely people are either fired or intentionally made so miserable they quit. Unfortunately employees don't seem to leave often due to their own choice.

1.0
9 Jul 2024

Good people, bad leader.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The work is interesting and my peers are fun to work with.

Cons

The owner is a chauvinist and untrustworthy. He enjoys publicly embarrassing his employees.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 8 Reviews

Glassdoor has 9 Opterus reviews submitted anonymously by Opterus employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Opterus is right for you.