software engineer

staff member

system engineer

engineer

mechanical engineer

It was one of the worst working experience for my more that 20 years work in IT field in Canada.

1. Miscommunication. I was assigned to create a Stored Procedure which was running very slow. I had to thinking about another approach to find a solution, spent a lot of effort and time. Later I figured out that another programmer was making regular maintenance of the Database without notifying others.

2. No introducing to new team members. New people, your neighbor by cubicle - just coming and going. You asking where is that guy? Getting answer: He left two weeks ago! Where you've been?

3. Manager lead meetings very ugly, talking very quite, mumbling under his nose. Only speaking up about his travel to NASA center.

4. Minimal help. The most of asking for help from the team leader - getting answer: Read the documentation.

5. Unequal treatment of workers with different backgrounds. 
I had to spend 3 hours every day for commuting to work place for almost two years. I asked to give me at least one day in the middle of week to work remotely - got answer 'the policy of our company does not allow that'. It was strange because two other guys from our team regularly worked from home, even twice a week and even manager asked them where they prefer to work this or that day. Only after involving HR person I've got permission to work once a week remotely, breaking the most important policy of the company.

6. Isolation. Probably, after a hidden command or hint from the manager I was excluded from all status meetings for almost a year!
I've got bunch of old technology applications where i had to fixed very old problems. I resolved all of them, but I had to work for a year in complete isolation.

Technical help was pretty good though.

The only positives I have of this company is that there are lots of technologies deployed and there are unlimited number of things to learn.  If you can survive and find a balance, it's a good place to start off before moving onto another company.

The department I worked at only cared about scheduling and timeliness of deliverables.  Supervisors and managers always assigned task time by the book, treating even new hires like veterans when comes to task time allocation.  Colleagues had no time to spend with new hires to get them up to speed as everyone was always on tight schedules, and there was no meaningful training time allocated.  Management was impatient to properly train new people, and yet not allocated reasonable time for study and research neither.

Sick days are mandated by the government these days, but when I was working there a few years ago as a new hire, I wasn't qualified for sick days during my 6 month probation.  I was sick for three days; the only thing management said was for me to make up all the lost hours on my own because every single hour must be reported on the timesheet.  At the end, nothing mattered.  When the scheduled time was up on the tasks, the management pressured me.  I put up lots of my personal hours after work and weekends attempting to complete the tasks.  There was no appreciation from the management whatsoever.  After a couple of warnings, they let me go even before the probation period was up.  There was no compassion whatsoever.  The turnover rate is high at this company, not a doubt.

I worked at this company as a Software Lead, and based on my experience, I cannot recommend it to software professionals looking to grow their careers.

The company presents itself as a technology-driven organization, but my experience within the software organization was disappointing. The software development practices, code quality, processes, and overall engineering culture were among the weakest I have encountered in my career. Despite repeated efforts to improve development standards, software quality, and team effectiveness, meaningful change was extremely difficult to achieve.

One of the biggest challenges was the quality of middle management. In my experience, many decisions appeared to be driven by personal bias, politics, and subjective opinions rather than technical expertise, performance, or business value. This created an environment where constructive feedback and improvement initiatives were often ignored, making it difficult for teams to reach their full potential.

Compensation was not particularly competitive compared to similar positions in the industry, and opportunities for professional growth, learning, and innovation were limited.

The one genuinely positive aspect of the company is the cafeteria, which offers excellent food and service.

If you are looking for a workplace with strong technical leadership, merit-based decision making, modern software practices, and opportunities to learn and grow, I would recommend carefully evaluating other options before joining this organization.

The job itself it’s actually very interesting a lot of learning reading plans (French and English) and understanding of basic electronics and assemblies perfect for someone who wants to learn gain experience in Space Flight  technology, for some who has aptitude as a mechanical technician and  micro-electronics.                                                                        Workplace culture is very toxic, managers get replaced all the time we had 6 managers  last year alone 5 managers in less then 1 year,  a lot of drama and toxic  people accusing others just because they can, managers telling You one thing then another, managers and technicians with experience contradicting themselves constantly, a lot of backstabbing, company is more concerned about woke culture and drawing pumpkins then actually training and giving proper equipment to there technicians, training is a huge problem here and a lack of respect. Some people getting special treatment while others where literally pushed constantly down overworked or indirectly accused of mistakes they never did, a lot of people covering there mistakes and passing them to other technicians, company has unrealistic goals with the current work environment training and personal most people are scared of losing there jobs  nobody dares to speak up. 

Management treats new hires like they are highly disposable and have no respect for the people under them - they treat them like children. This this of attitude is very disrespectful and condescending. You also have no job security here whatsoever. So many people come and go - there is such a high turnover rate that it's a wonder the company is still surviving. MDA has gotten into a trend of only hiring from out of province or country to make it harder for them to quit once they've committed to moving here. There aren't many people happy about working here. Nobody is ever recognized, and salary is extremely poor, even for Vancouver standards. The promise of raises always fall short. No training is ever provided, and if you don't find material to self learn you are heavily criticized. There is no work-life balance whatsoever. The environment is extremely toxic and they find ways to pit people against one another. Documentation and process for work is extremely long and arduous. It makes any kind of work you do very unpleasant. You find yourself fighting with the process more than actually getting things accomplished.

Reporting to Director of HR, I am a Manager of two staff. I prepare and present the annual compensation plan to our CFO, COO. I supervise the analysts in their handling of employee benefits, payroll, compensation, bonus plan, disability leaves. It is a fast paced environment and I have strong ability in multi-tasking and remaining organized and efficient.
The hardest part of my job is not having time to take vacation or to eat a lunch because the work load doesn't allow the time. The most enjoyable part of my job are the employees and retirees. We have great employees and be able to assist and support them is very satisfying.
We work as a team of 9 HR employees and the sharing of information in this unionized environment is the most important part for all of us to be able to be great at our work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Cutting edge space and robotics scientific research and technology makes one proud to be a part of the company.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor procedural setup and unwillingness to consider and implement a change.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Great people around. Inclusive culture. Hybrid work options.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As everywhere in Finance - come in, login, open systems and applications, go through one's set of tasks, get help when you need it, provide help when others need it.

The management is good. There's a meeting every morning to ensure the coordination of the technicians.

I've learned about aerospace, flight unit testing, reading and writing test procedures, ESD precautions depending of the room rating (10 000V, 100 000V...), TVAC chambers, thermal chambers...

I've had a great relationship with my co-workers. They proved to be an engaging, dynamic and welcoming team. This was also the best point of this job, you get very nice and caring colleagues there.

The hardest part is when there was down time. Days seem to be longer when you're looking for something to do all day.

New senior management has changed the company for the better compared to 10+ years ago.  People are great, management is supportive and knowledgeable.
Work is challenging, interesting and can be fast paced, but you do have time for a personal life. Work hours are generally flexible depending on your role and program needs. Paid overtime and you can bank flex and vacation.
Your career path depends very much on you setting your own course. Work towards what you want, and show initiative and you can go far.  If you sit back and let things just happen then you wont.

This place practices discrimination during the hiring process based on ethnic origin and the immigration status despite available and confirmed in Canada and in Europe relevant high qualification, Canadian citizenship, available security clearance. Nationalistic discrimination and harassment during the employment is the norm here. Corporate lie about allegedly policies is the norm as well. Nepotism and cronyism is widespread in this organization. The management on all levels and the HR are all heavily involved into this outrageous racism.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Software engineer 12 salaries reported	$91,583 per year
Staff member 17 salaries reported	$102,488 per year
System engineer 15 salaries reported	$104,883 per year
Engineer 4 salaries reported	$87,500 per year
Mechanical engineer 6 salaries reported	$25.58 per hour

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