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Arsenal Biosciences

Engaged Employer

Arsenal Biosciences reviews

3.9

71% would recommend to a friend

(72 total reviews)
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Ken Drazan

86% approve of CEO

60% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Compensation and benefits

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

3.9

Culture & values

3.7

Work/Life balance

3.7

Senior management

3.7

Career opportunities

Arsenal Biosciences has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 72 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Arsenal Biosciences employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

72 reviews
2.0
Dec 5, 2021

Toxicity overshadows exemplary grit

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Ken is respectable. Faith in the expertise of our CEO. He is transparent in sharing information at All Hands. 2. Compensation is generous, along with the benefits. 3. Dedication of peers and colleagues are inspiring though sometimes a symptom of naivety. 4. Timelines are highly aggressive but the people here have grit and it is something to be proud of. 5. Company at rest days are common. Some feel pressured to come in with less time to finish work. 6. Lunch is great. 7. Location of office is good and there’s a shuttle to the Bart.

Cons

1. There’s a real imbalance in resourcing between teams. Allocation is very much based on how well that team’s director can navigate the social arena. Directors here are superfluous and are especially inexperienced in management and industry. The urgency of a team’s growth is consistently quelled with instant gratification where we need more hands on bench rather than a more thoughtful approach on strategic growth, focusing on actual gaps with stronger hires. 2. Distrust between teams and sometimes within teams. Teams are not willing to share data with each other. Many say they love collaboration but their actions say stay in your lane. Input isn’t usually taken well, especially on robustness of data. 3. Egos are intense yet fragile. Elitism is rampant and perpetuated by what school you went to, whose lab you worked in, how many hours you work, etc. Having the right social title is a significant component to your happiness here. 4. We’ve grown substantially in the past few months. I had hoped it would dilute the negative parts of our culture. Gossip is never-ending and there are truly toxic people here who care more about their reputation — often at the expense of their direct reports or peers — than the exciting work we are more than equipped to accomplish. 5. Brand management is huge here. On all levels, our company carefully curates its image internally and externally by managing sensitive internal narratives and removing negative Glassdoor reviews, whether or not it was helpful or obviously written in anger, which may already say something on its own.

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Arsenal Biosciences Response
4y
Thank you for your detailed review. Please be assured we will never delete any reviews given to us and take all feedback very seriously and learn from it to improve the overall employee experience. We appreciate you feel Arsenal has high potential and that our CEO Ken is respectable, our people dedicated, and the company has the “grit” to make a difference and bring innovative cancer treatments to market. Arsenal has been growing substantially, adding many motivated and highly knowledgeable people to its workforce every day. That can always bring growing pains. Because of this, we work hard at making Arsenal a great place to work and to support our employees with their physical, mental, and emotional well-being as well as their career growth. We strive to uphold our company values in everything we do. We will incorporate your comments into our continuous efforts to help train and support our managers and associates. We are proud of our culture and our employees, but we know that sustaining a great culture takes continuous evaluation and work. Thank you for your comments so we can continue to learn and evolve as a company.
2.0
Jan 26, 2022

Self deception manifesting from the top down

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. The science is compelling and has potential. 2. Many peers are exemplary, passionate, and driven about the work they do. 3. Lunch provided on site.

Cons

Let me address the "people first" platitude. 1. Reviews can point to snacks, lunches, gym membership, unlimited PTO, and health benefits to prove that the company puts people first. These benefits are nice to have, but are fairly low commitment: how hard is it to hire vendors to provide this? What matters at the end of the day is substance in the form of compensation and career development. Aspects of compensation are rarely addressed. Process for raises and promotions is opaque, bonuses are not talked about, and career development is virtually non-existent as most managers don't have a vested interest in anything that doesn't coincide with business-as-usual activities. 2. Unlimited PTO has become somewhat of a misnomer. It should be labeled as "unlimited PTO as long as your manager approves and it does not disrupt business needs". The company says they trust that employees will utilize PTO responsibly, yet continue to reiterate that managers can set restrictions on when vacation can be taken. Don't fool yourself into thinking that unlimited PTO here does not come with strings attached. You can say you trust your employees but your actions have said otherwise. 3. Perhaps the most explicit test to determine how well a company places "people first" is how they treat on-site workers during the pandemic. There's no oversight. The decisions being made in regards to COVID are from those who will have stepped on site once every 6 months. The information relayed to employees on site is minimal/outdated and risk of infection grows. The company doubling-down on PTO policy while we have had positive cases every week is telling in some way. 4. Recruitment practices are backwards. Many have not had a positive experience in the recruitment process. Interesting to see how good Arsenal is at convincing those who have expertise and a proven track record to take roles that they are clearly over-qualified for, probably with a broken promise of advancement in the future after they've proven themselves worthy.

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Arsenal Biosciences Response
4y
Thank you for your review. Your feedback is valuable as we work to make Arsenal an even better place to work. We know that the people who work here are at the heart and soul of everything we do and that without them we would not be successful in achieving our goals. Investing in our people is a top priority. We strive to offer competitive compensation and benefits packages, including flexible time off that meet personal and business priorities, while also supporting advancement opportunities for growth and development. Thank you again for your review! We will definitely take your comments to heart and continue to look for ways to improve.
3.0
Aug 31, 2023

A few big egos spoiling the culture

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exciting, cutting edge science happening here and led by a very experienced and approachable C-suite.

Cons

There are several prominent, senior level employees wreaking havoc on the culture of the company. These individuals seem compelled to create chaos and churn just so they can demonstrate their power and importance. Teams that are working well and generating good work product are getting torn apart when these individuals demand changes that are unneccessary or specifically contradict their earlier guidance. It is incredibly disruptive and defeating to the teams and morale.

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Glassdoor has 74 Arsenal Biosciences reviews submitted anonymously by Arsenal Biosciences employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Arsenal Biosciences is right for you.