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    Ocado Technology Reviews

    Updated 16 March 2019
    100 reviews

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    4.3
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    (no image)
    James Matthews
    5 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • "Working from home and remote working are generally discouraged" (in 5 reviews)

    • "Wages, for being so close to London the wages are not as competitive to where people use the company as a stepping stone for London work" (in 2 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons
    1. Featured Review

      Helpful (5)

      "Perfect place, great people, great processes"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Mobile Developer in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Former Employee - Mobile Developer in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Ocado Technology full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Working flexibility
      A lot to learn from colleagues
      Really high level of knowledge in the teams
      People are hired for their knowledge, and everyone is really listening to your solution
      Great place to grow skills
      Offices are amazing
      Everyone is friendly
      Encouraged to be who you are (skills, look, etc)
      Good and cheap canteen in the office
      Lot of side projects, if you want to change

      Cons

      Salary slightly lower than the average, probably
      Hatfield (the office location) is a small town with nothing to do, so it's better to commute (lot of better towns nearby)

      Advice to Management

      Keep working in the same way, but increase the salaries to good employees

      Ocado Technology Response

      5 Apr 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the great review!

    2. "A company that really cares"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Solutions Manager in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Current Employee - Solutions Manager in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Are already recognised as the de facto leader in their industry and are committed to retain this position. The prioritisation of "culture" is very different from conventional British companies because it's designed to promote fairness and collaboration and mutual success. Every day we face difficult challenges that require complex solutions, so delivering elegant solutions is really inspiring.

      Cons

      Successful employees need to be prepared to shed their personal agendas, so they can remove impediments and work together collaboratively. As a company that trades on the London Stock Exchange, not all employees are able to get full access to all information (legal issue to prevent against insider trading, market manipulation, etc.), so people need to learn to trust some decisions to others where they may not make full sense at the moment... but ultimately will when further information becomes public.

      Ocado Technology Response

      5 Apr 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      This is a really thoughtful review, thank you

      3. Join the Ocado Technology team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (1)

      "Great company to work for"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time

      Pros

      Great environment, strong in technology

      Cons

      Less competitive when you become senior

      Ocado Technology Response

      5 Apr 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the review

    4. Helpful (1)

      "Good experience"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Software Engineer in Welwyn Garden City, England
      Former Employee - Software Engineer in Welwyn Garden City, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Ocado Technology full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      A challenging project, many opportunities, professional team

      Cons

      changes/ideas have to go through many layers of management to be considered

      Ocado Technology Response

      5 Apr 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the great review and useful feedback

    5. Helpful (1)

      "Working at Ocado Technology"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Software Engineer in Hatfield, Yorkshire and the Humber, England
      Current Employee - Software Engineer in Hatfield, Yorkshire and the Humber, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Agile development environment. Very collaborative and trustworthy place to work. The management really look after you and are extremely supportive. The variety of problems to solve across the domains is substantial and interesting.

      Cons

      Office is outside of London

      Ocado Technology Response

      5 Apr 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      We're very pleased you're happy with the culture. We work hard to make the commute as easy as possible for our London-based employees so hopefully you're seeing this pay off.

    6. "Great place to work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Software Engineering Intern in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Current Employee - Software Engineering Intern in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Very nice people and technology to work on.

      Cons

      Location is a bit boring but very close to London.

      Ocado Technology Response

      21 Feb 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the positive review!
      For anyone thinking about commuting between Hatfield and London, we offer free season ticket loans for the train, a free shuttle between the station and the office... More

    7. "IT Team Leader"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - IT Team Leader in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Current Employee - IT Team Leader in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Exciting projects and tech stack.
      Working with some very smart people.
      Not much for red tape.

      Cons

      There are quite a few silos and quite a few "secrets" circling around.
      Still some finger pointing (that wasn't me, must've been someone else).

      Advice to Management

      Career model has made people choose either tech or organizational and that has provoked the appearance of "pointy haired boss" type, some areas more than others. Though has been improving.
      Review salaries as there is a huge gravity towards London.

      Ocado Technology Response

      21 Feb 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the review and your constructive comments

    8. Helpful (2)

      "Senior Software Engineer"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Software Engineer in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Current Employee - Senior Software Engineer in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      You will have the opportunity to work with cutting edge tech. If this is important make sure you state this as a requirement when you apply, because this varies a lot depending on which team you go into.
      I have found line managers are very supportive. It is easy to switch teams if your experience is different.
      I have not encountered anyone with problematic people skills. The recruitment process filters them out well.
      Pay is good for Hertfordshire. If you live in London and plan to for the foreseeable future, you can do better.

      Cons

      Lack of parking and poor public transport connections. Working at home is rarely an option. Unless you live within cycling or walking distance of the office, your commute will be stressful.
      Management are penny-pinching in some areas (e.g. software licenses), but wasteful in others (e.g. unnecessary town halls that tie everyone up for hours).
      The main office (Trident Place) has poor facilities. Be sure to keep a portable fan and warm jacket at the office to be prepared for 15-27C temperatures. Throughout 2018, overcrowding was a problem. Sometimes, you may be queueing 30 minutes for sub-par canteen food.
      Maybe it depends on which team you are in, but I have not found the work very challenging or my time well-used.
      Feature development seems very slow. Mostly due to lack of motivation/incentives, indecisive business/retail and poor processes.
      Backwards security policies - inconvenience when it is not needed and disregard for the real risks.

      Advice to Management

      General managers should talk directly to dev teams to hear their concerns.
      Be more willing to hire people with lesser qualifications and experience.
      There are too many managers in relation to engineers. Consider improving the ratio or having managers do some technical work.

      Ocado Technology Response

      21 Feb 2019 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the review. You've raised some interesting points,there's lots for us to look at. We'd like to encourage you to speak to your line manager if you feel you're not being challenged enough as... More

    9. Helpful (4)

      "If you don't fit the culture, you will never be happy"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Extreme cutting edge technology(for now) and lots to learn. Good benefits package and casual dress code. CEO is very capable and is building a strong company. Good for young engineers to cut their teeth in.

      Cons

      Huge cliquish culture. If you don't fit in, you will never belong and will be miserable. At best you get ignored or worse, completely ostracized.
      Jealousy between colleagues happens a lot. People will know what grade you are and they extrapolate on your benefits package based on that.
      Certain personality types will not fit into the culture.
      If you don't fit in with the managers idea of what is an ideal employee, be prepared for performance management plans with lofty goals which you have no idea of how to attain.
      Poor opportunities for growth or promotion, people with the weirdest people skills are promoted.
      HR seems to face significant turnover and feels highly inexperienced so don't expect experienced HR to help you out.
      Very poor work-life balance. Made worse by a policy of literally forbidding working from home, even though the software suites and working tools makes it very easy to work from home. Strong distrust ferments among colleagues if you ever win this concession.

      Advice to Management

      I distrust line and middle management so I'm not bothering. I can't reach upper management, not at the site I am based in so again I won't bother.

      Ocado Technology Response

      23 Dec 2018 – Social Media and Content Lead

      We're concerned to read about your experience of our culture as we work hard to be diverse and inclusive. We value your feedback and are keen to learn from it, so if you'd like to discuss this... More

    10. "Great place to work with friendly staff"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Development Manager in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Current Employee - Development Manager in Hatfield, East of England, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ocado Technology full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great relaxed atmosphere where people strive to work together to produce high quality, technology leading solutions.
      People are very friendly and dress code very relaxed.
      Use of leading technology and agile methodologies,
      Constant training and improvement opportunities supported by a new career model.
      Excellent benefits package.

      Cons

      Lack of processses in some areas but this is being addressed.

      Ocado Technology Response

      30 Nov 2018 – Social Media and Content Lead

      Thanks for the review, we're pleased to see that where you have concerns they're being addressed.