Ocado Technology Reviews

Pros

Almost everyone there is a pleasure to work with, you'll find people that are very smart but also humble and happy to help out, and at the same time eager to learn from you. Dealing with people from all over the hierarchy (which exists, but isn't thrown at you), is never a stressful situation and there's a genuine interest in solving problems, not finding who to blame. A very fast paced environment, where you'll feel like you're building a massive airplane while making sure it's still flying (and you're inside....if you're wondering...). I'll list this in the cons as well since it's not for everyone. This company takes learning very seriously and it shows, everyone is allowed to take some time to learn and improve their skills, but of course, you then are expected to share your knowledge with people around you.

Cons

Fast-paced, lot's going on at the same time and sometimes it seems like we should just focus on one thing at a time. Some processes are still maturing, so not everything runs smoothly...but then again, tell me one place where it does... The complexity of the software, systems and the business in general means that it doesn't suffice to be good in tech, you'll have to learn about other areas.

Advice to Management

Not all departments are treated equally and that causes a bit of discomfort among the employees, more effort should be put into making sure this doesn't happen. Keep doing the changes that are been done recently, it's painful to some but very needed, most people agree with them. Keep being open and as transparent as possible, people appreciate that. With that in mind, sometimes things just take too long to be decided, as an ex-employee I think it would be ok for the CEO/CTO/CxO to use this quote more often: “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” ― Jim Barksdale All in all, management is doing a great job.

Pros

Nice clean office thoroughfares. Decent food in the canteen. Free dinner if you stay until 7pm (sort of a bribe). Nice sports facilities down the road. They are okay for you to make up the work if you want to head down the gym for an hour or so.

Cons

The toilets are shockingly bad at flushing - a simple requirement not met. Parking is a major issue. Core hours are 10am - 4pm, but you won't be able to get a parking spot after 9:15am most days, so you'll have to park a kilometre away and walk in! The floors in the office are exceptionally wobbly, meaning that anyone walking through the office makes your screen shake. Office spaces are comparatively noisy to other places I have worked and working from home is an exception. Meeting rooms are at a premium and are booked way in advance, so no-where to go and get sanctuary if you need to focus on some work. Salaries are about 20+% below those in London. No work performance-related bonuses. The contract is 40 hours per week, so if you want to take 45min for lunch that's extra time you need to work!

Advice to Management

You have an collaborative mantra. This works to a limited extent in engineering - you need space to focus and get stuff done, but the environment that has been created is not set up for that. The sheer difficulty in getting work-from-home time offers no sanctuary for when you need to concentrate on engineering tasks. Middle-management are hypocritical - they will say they want a collaborative environment, but this is because they want that, not because it is necessarily what the engineers want. There is a clear issue with space at the Hatfield offices but no suitable action is being taken to resolve this. Easiest solution is to relax working from home policy - this will alleviate parking issue, over-crowded canteen issues, noisy office environment, etc.

Pros

None I can think of or make up

Cons

A lot of bullying. No respect for mental health

Pros

A friendly culture and good group of people. Fast growing which brings changes and opportunity. Supportive management. Tech Finance expertise is in general a good atmosphere. A grad programme that runs at the heart of the company. Aims of becoming better business partners will hopefully bring success. Tech business partners, that despite being too busy do in general want finance engagement.

Cons

Fast growth brings expected growing pains of quickly changing priorities. Unstable repetitive processes (could be seen as an opportunity!) Lack of flexible working.

Advice to Management

Finance flexible working needs to get with the times, it's a different standard to the rest of the organisation and the strict in office 9-6 regime is no longer the norm.

Pros

No need to work hard

Cons

Work is brain dead boring. Everything is outsourced nothing is done in house. They dont need software engineers. What they need is maintainers

Pros

Good tech! See similar review for more details

Cons

Poor culture - see similarly titled review for more details

Pros

Opportunity for advancement Positive working environment

Cons

Slightly below the industry standard for salary

Pros

- great people to work with; everyone is very nice, professional and knowledgeable - interesting product - great learning and development opportunities - fantastic culture; something that is hard to find

Cons

-at that time it was the head office location; not relevant anymore as they have opened a new office in London