Is Sanger Institute a good company to work for?

Sanger Institute has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 231 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 5% over the last 12 months. 62% of employees would recommend working at Sanger Institute to a friend and 55% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Sanger Institute have been left by employees working as Research Assistant , Postdoctoral Fellow and Advanced Research Assistant .

Does Sanger Institute pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Sanger Institute employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Sanger Institute. This rating has decreased by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Sanger Institute?

62% of Sanger Institute employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Sanger Institute 3.5 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.4 for culture and values and 3.4 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Sanger Institute?

Postdoctoral Fellow (22) , Research Assistant (20) , Advanced Research Assistant (19) , PhD Student (11) , Senior Software Developer (6) , Senior Bioinformatician (5) , Bioinformatician (4) , Staff Scientist (4) , Researcher (3) , Software Developer (3) , Software Engineer (3) , Team Leader (3) , Manager (2) , Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2) , Scientific Manager (2)

What are the pros of working at Sanger Institute according to real employee reviews?

"Campus is beautiful" ((in 20 reviews)); "Great benefits" ((in 17 reviews)); "Great people" ((in 12 reviews)); "Good work life balance" ((in 8 reviews)); "Helpful and friendly colleagues," ((in 5 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Sanger Institute according to real employee reviews?

"Low salary and no promotional opportunity." ((in 17 reviews)); "Less career progression, slow reaction from management team" ((in 9 reviews)); "Cold management, hierarchical, factory" ((in 6 reviews)); "There are no bonuses, and annual raises are based on how well your manager thinks you did compared to the rest of your team." ((in 3 reviews)); "poor leadership, no career development" ((in 3 reviews))

Sanger Institute Reviews

3.4

62% would recommend to a friend

(205 total reviews)

Matthew Hurles

53% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.0

Diversity and inclusion

3.5

Work/Life balance

3.4

Culture and values

3.4

Career opportunities

3.1

Compensation and benefits

2.9

Senior management

Sanger Institute has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 205 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Sanger Institute employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Non-profit and NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

205 reviews

1.0

16 Nov 2018

If you are qualified international researcher do not waste your time

Postdoctoral fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

not much to say besides the reputation, which is good only if you want to stay in science.

Cons

I worked at the institute for four years as a postdoctoral scientist. The institute has a very poor and unhealthy working environment. Full of nepotism, favouritism and politics that a new comer international employee cannot understand. This is reflected in different management levels. After talking to othee peers, I relaized my case is not rare and happens commonly at other groups. If you are qualified international scientist, esp. from Asia, avoid this place.

3.0

30 Jan 2020

A place for those early in their career (Postdoc etc).

Software developer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Interesting science at scale, free bus from Cambridge and train station, salaries are better than University, but can easily be beaten by surrounding companies & institutes (EBI). Depending on department, can be fairly relaxed.

Cons

They tell you, you are at Sanger for the science, everything else like salaries, acknowledgment, career progression, go somewhere else. They are trying to change their ways (technician commitment is a UK wide campaign that just started at Sanger and doesn't have any real value for existing employees, maybe now improved?). Salaries are capped, meaning there is only X amount to give out, if everyone performs exceptionally well, unfortunately not everyone will be rewarded at the same level. Career progression doesn't exist, but most academic organizations follow the same system. Recently, Sanger has been hit by scandals, from bullying to misuse of african data all reported by the media. Everyone has an opinion whether its true or not, but even having a hint of this type of toxic environment in the public realm is not a good look.

1.0

19 Jun 2019

Awful place to work dominated by the worst management structure I have seen.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Nice grounds and access to good refreshments/food.

Cons

Appalling HR section, a very crafty Director and a disturbing atmosphere to work in. Witnessed some serious acts of bulling by Senior members of staff. Several staff have been forced to move on by signing NDA's.

Sanger Institute Response

6y

Many thanks for taking the time to feedback. I am sorry that your experiences have not been positive and differ from the feedback more generally received on Glassdoor – that is disappointing to hear, especially concerning my HR team and the services they work hard to deliver. Of particular concern is the suggestion that you have seen first-hand, unacceptable behaviour and I would reiterate our policies to deal with, and indeed call out, such events. We are absolutely committed to dealing with such issues and you can see our polices here: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/careers/our-working-culture-policies-and-approach. We are consistently reviewing our working culture at Sanger. We do this through annual staff surveys, engagement with Employee Representatives, wider dialogue and feedback and as part of culture development programmes that are underway - these programmes are currently focused on building transparency around all elements of operations and decision making. These are just some of the initiatives we have undertaken to ensure that we can offer all our staff the best possible experience. Best Regards, Charlie Weatherhogg- Human Resources Director

Viewing 1 - 3 of 205 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

British Heart Foundation

3.7★Compensation and benefits

Wellcome Trust

4.2★Compensation and benefits

Housing 21

4.4★Compensation and benefits

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

3.9★Compensation and benefits