Pros
All projects are mission driven, which means you'll apply your skills to solving problems surrounding environmental protection, public transportation, voting information, climate change, bicycle infrastructure, etc. It's challenging work that feels important. The company has a strong R&D focus and is developing open source projects for high performance geographic data processing and deep learning for aerial imagery. Azavea employees are passionate about what they do, yet there is not a culture around working late or long hours. Most employees work 40–45 hour weeks. At 6:00 PM, the office will be mostly empty; anyone staying late might have used flex time to go to the post office that morning or take their kid to an appointment. People who work here are in bands, play on sports teams, spend time with their kids, teach classes, and explore other interests outside of their job. The company takes employee feedback seriously, and as an individual, you can have a big impact. I can easily think of a half dozen systems or ideas that employees suggested that have been implemented in the past year. The CEO has a monthly office hour where anyone can sign up to talk about anything, and it's clear that he deeply cares about the company and the people who work there. Best boss I've ever had by a long shot. So much more to say. Tons of opportunities to learn and grow. Monthly employee-organized happy hour. People here are friendly. Flexible schedules. Monthly "brown bag lunch" where we have interesting speakers come in and share their work.
Cons
You could make 10–20% more money at a bigger company that is more profit-focused.
