Pros
Work/life balance is good but not overly great. Benefits were pretty competitive. Co-workers were smart although morale was super low for the entirety of my 5+ years.
Cons
Hierarchical and poor leadership trickles down. Strategic services organization consistently has more middle management (managers and directors) than junior staff which means non-management staff burnout fast and move on, creating a revolving door of employees. This leaves an even bigger gap in workload and means that directors and executive directors with high salaries are often pulling together last minute powerpoint slides at the request of senior and executive leadership versus actually innovating. While the people are great and smart, everyone battles the same fatigue with red tape and lackluster leadership which means morale is in the garbage and 99% of the time you (and everyone else) are just a dog chasing your own tail. Progress and innovation are slow to nonexistent.