Only or Sales and Marketing people - Principal Software Engineer OpenGov Employee Review

1.0
Dec 6, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is overwhelmingly focused on sales and support, often at the expense of its technical workforce. Leadership outside of Sales Executives—such as Directors and Engineering Managers—tends to promote the image that we are a “heavy AI and tech company.” In reality, the technology stack is largely outdated, with React being the only modern tool used consistently. CTO position vacant, might as well discontinue it, LoL. No Technical Directors or Tech VPs, who needs leadership when you’ve got vibes, :-) The facts reflect a serious lack of commitment to technical career growth. There have been no meaningful promotions within engineering roles for years. Career progression stalls at the Senior Software Engineer level, with only a handful of Staff Engineer promotions and virtually none to Principal Engineer. Recognition is equally lacking; flagship company awards almost always go to Sales teams or managers, not to technical contributors. Overall, the company has shown a clear lack of investment in its technical firepower. It lacks on how to effectively leverage, empower, or retain its engineers. As a result, many highly capable technical employees have chosen to leave. I ultimately became one of them.

Cons

Poorly managed career Tech advancement options, no investment in Tech People They cater to Govts. who do not care about Tech they get, so not a place for Thriving Tech Person

avatar
OpenGov Response
6mo
Thank you for sharing your perspective. Your experience isn’t aligned with the culture we strive to create, nor with what we typically hear from our engineers. Engineering is foundational to OpenGov’s mission to power more effective and accountable government. We celebrate contributions across the company and recognize that our success depends on the strength of our technology and the engineers behind it. We appreciate your feedback and remain focused on investing in and advancing technical careers at OpenGov.

Explore other reviews about OpenGov

5.0
Jul 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

OpenGov is a great place for professionals who want to grow and make impact. The company invests in coaching and recognizes strong performance with opportunities for promotion. The mission also makes the work more rewarding because every conversation connects back to helping state and local governments operate more effectively.

Cons

The pace is fast and expectations are high. Success requires resilience and a willingness to continuously improve.

1.0
May 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The startup-era culture here was genuinely good — collaborative, energetic, people-first. As the company grew, so did the ego. Leadership lost what made the place work and replaced it with a top-down, my-way culture that has driven out some of the best people.

Cons

I'm writing the review I wish had existed when I was researching this company. Not checking Glassdoor before I started was my single biggest professional regret. Promotion is positioned during recruiting as a near-term, achievable goal. In reality, the criteria are vague, inconsistently applied, and rarely result in actual advancement. KPIs are set at levels that ensure most reps will fall short — creating a perpetual sense of failure that serves management's pressure tactics, not your career growth. Advancement often appears less tied to clear performance metrics and more dependent on subjective favoritism, including maintaining close alignment with or “sucking up to” hiring managers and leadership, rather than merit alone. Transparency is essentially nonexistent. Turnover in the SDR org specifically is high and ongoing, but it’s never acknowledged or addressed internally. Candidates have no way of knowing the full picture going in. One more thing worth knowing: account executives are coached during training to post positive Glassdoor reviews. Please weigh that when you look at the overall rating. “Unlimited PTO” is also not as flexible as it may be presented. In practice, time off appears to be closely monitored and can be restricted, even for high performers, based on internal perceptions of fairness across the team rather than true flexibility or performance-based trust. This makes the benefit feel more like a recruiting talking point than an actual employee perk.

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