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Lockheed Martin

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Lockheed Martin Senior Software Engineer reviews

4.0

74% would recommend to a friend

(322 total reviews)
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James D. Taiclet

65% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Software Engineer, Senior employees have rated Lockheed Martin with 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 322 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Engineer, Senior professionals have a good working experience there. Lockheed Martin is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Engineer, Senior professionals compared to other employers within the Luft- & Raumfahrt, Verteidigung industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

322 reviews
2.0
Sep 19, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A good place to coast if that’s what you’re looking for The mission of government clients is often more appealing than that of commercial tech firms

Cons

Teams have independent cultures so your experience is totally dependent on the leadership of the team you’re on. That said, most of them are bad as the company only cares about leaders’ ability to maintain the contracts with the customer. In my experience, the only thing shared is a lack of interest in the experience/growth of employees Mediocre pay/benefits Many mediocre coworkers. People are hired without confirming they have basic technical competencies. People are mostly early in their career or old timers riding things out until retirement Quality of work is irrelevant. There’s pressure to only do the bare minimum to satisfy the contract wording. Not a place for you if you care about your craft Anyone technically competent gets promoted to be (mostly incompetent) middle managers. Such roles are often considered a reward for loyalty. I worked with 6-8 different managers during my time there and would not interested in working with a single one again. In all other places I’ve worked combined, there’s only 1 or 2 I would say the same about Most teams have outdated software practices/technologies. For example, many teams pay lip service to “agile” but actually follow waterfall practices.

4.0
Jul 22, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Work-life balance is great on most teams. - 401k match is fantastic @ 10% (50% of your first 8% + additional 6% at no cost to you) and has a self-directed brokerage option for those who want more control over their investments. Roth 401k is offered, which is nice. - You're usually afforded the ability to learn as you go. You're presented with real challenges whether the challenge itself is a technological/engineering challenge or a "we have to solve this problem between the left and right lateral limits of xyz requirements" challenge. I was never denied the ability to spend a few days getting up to speed on something I'm not familiar with - which leads to a greater breadth of experience and can be great for your resume. - While the culture is archaic, it's simply because everyone who started at the company 30, and 40 years ago is still there. You can reasonably expect the culture to become more modern as people retire - and in the meantime, the people are bright and pleasant to be around. Learn as much as you can from the older folks, while they're still around. - The mission is patriotic. It's easy to take pride and find fulfillment in the work. - The company has finally embraced remote work for those roles that have the ability to do so.

Cons

- Software engineering is underpaid compared to big tech. The defense sector will never compete with FAANG and doesn't try to... but this does lead to high turn-over in software engineering talent; especially at the senior/3 level. - High deductible insurance plans are all that's offered. Not great for young families. - First-line management (asc managers and even level 5 managers) don't have much power when it comes to any significant promotions, raises, etc. Obviously, their input is taken by directors and HR and they can decide if you get a 1% bonus or a 5% bonus or raise at the end of the year within certain parameters, but at the end of the day.. HR has a rigid matrix/formula they will use to determine your level/title/pay/growth rate. - You have to create growth. Lockheed promotes based on years with the company - not merit. - Make Skunk Works Skunky again.. it's just another streamlined LOB now. Once upon a time, Skunk Works would have been like being at Bell Labs in the '60s. Not so much in 2021. Management hails Kelly Johnson's 14 rules - but doesn't follow any of them.

5.0
Jul 15, 2021

Great Company

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Awesome company to work for with tons of really cool projects if you end up in the right group. Great pay compared to other huge contractors as of the last few years. For context, a move to Raytheon would have netted me an effective 50% pay cut, accounting for cost of living. I loved my time there and would go back if I could.

Cons

It has all of the classical megacorp negatives. Stuff moves slow sometimes. IT can be a pain in the butt or straight up unhelpful.

Viewing 136 - 138 of 322 Reviews

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