DAI reviews

The pay for junior-level staff could be better. I left for a small business competitor and was offered 40% more right out the gate. Very unclear about the promotion cycle and the metrics to move up. HR often says their hands are tied based on the salary grade bands and that staff can't move up more than one grade at a time, which is not true. Talks the talk about DEI but when push comes to shove DEI work is often done outside of employee's scope of work on their own free time.

Death-by-admin; lower salaries; and a myriad of systems and processes slow everything down and numb the brain. You can feel detached from the project delivery on the ground. Ultimately, DAI is a management consultancy. In turn, the team recruited on the ground does all the interesting work, DAI's role is to manage everything behind-the-scenes. If you love pure project management (contracts, budgets, etc), then this is the place for you. If you're more technically minded, and interested in analysis and research, then it's maybe a good place to grab some experience, but not somewhere for you long-term.