Avoid if you value collaboration and good management
Pros
good work life balance, flexibility to work at home
Cons
NYSERDA is an incredibly siloed organization and lacks any sense of unity and centralized strategy. There are multiple simultanous redundant projects and generally people don't talk across teams. People say it takes years to understand how this place works, and therefore is the classic example of an agency crippled by bureaucracy. There wasn't any spirit of collaboration on my team and it felt like everyone was operating as an individual across the org. NYSERDA did not at all feel like a progressive organization open to new ideas and leveraging the expertise of its employees to support internal capactity. Rather, success is measured by how much money gets pushed out the door to contractors. My experience was extraordinarily disheartening and I now have very little faith in the agency tasked with the research and development of decarbonizing our state. Avoid if you have private-sector expertise, you're better off getting paid lots of money as a contractor to NYSERDA.
