Pros
Trust - Jadu places a great deal of trust in the team to know what to deliver and how to do it, there’s no micro-managing, no one’s watching over your shoulder, making you account for every minute of your day or watching your web traffic. You’re treated like an adult and, of course, expected to be one in return.
Autonomy - As a regular employee you’re usually granted a high level of ownership over the product(s) you work on and are responsible for their ongoing development, roadmap and success. If you want to turn up to a job and be told what to do and how to do it. Jadu is probably not for you. We work in agile product teams so while a lot of feature decisions are made by customers and the product owners, it’s down to us to work together to deliver the best product we can.
Transparency - Jadu run a very open culture and discuss things openly and honestly in company meetings, it’s even possible to see senior management salaries and access monthly finance reports as a regular employee and see how much money is ‘in the bank’, I’ve never worked for another company that does this.
The team - Everyone is friendly, dedicated and technically competent, always willing to go great lengths to help and support each other as well as teach new skills when required. Jadu hold ‘Tech Talks’ every so often for anyone who has done something interesting they feel should be shared with the rest of the team.
Senior management - I’ve worked at Jadu a number of years and have seen certain decisions made, whether it’s to take on and (successfully) deliver large scale projects, or to pivot certain areas of the business. This has led me to have a high degree of confidence in the team running the company.
Quick to respond - Some other reviews comment that the CEO seems to change his mind often, I’d say that this is actually down to the business quickly reacting to certain opportunities which require a change in focus. Jadu is a fairly small team at the end of the day so sometimes the more exciting ‘blue sky’ ideas have to wait a little longer if a solid business opportunity comes up. Again, I’d put this down to senior management’s ability to steer the company into regular commercial success while still creating the opportunity to explore new ideas when the time is right.
Generous training and personal development budget, and the encouragement to use it.
Choice of location - Main office in Leicester and a smaller office in Leeds, as well as the increasing opportunity for remote workers. Tools like Slack make communicating across teams easier.
The tools - Great standard-issue equipment (new MBP & large screen, Aeron chair, big desks) and whatever software you need.
Great office environment - There’s an abundance of coffee, it’s comfortable and quiet in the working areas and the team is encouraged to take breaks together in the kitchen/breakfast-bar area.
Cons
Parking at the main Jadu office is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle at times, but there are bike racks, changing facilities and a clothes drying cabinet should you wish to cycle.
