Pros
Why you should trust me: I worked here a little while back for a few years. I decided to let some time pass before I wrote this review so I could provide a more objective reflection on my experience at Maxeler. It is also worth noting that I worked at a satellite office for most of my time there so my experiences with the main office were usually channeled through a few select people.
Some of the 5 star reviews read like management wrote them. The language is similar to how I was pitched and to how the business was described to potential clients, and the rationalizations are reminiscent of some people in management. Pay particular attention to the “Cons” which are not actually negatives.
Now don’t get me wrong, I honestly hope the culture has improved for the better. Some of the five star reviews seem genuine.
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There is challenging work to be done, potentially very interesting problems, and advancement in the way general programmers interact with FPGAs. So in these respects the company is very interesting.
There were good solid people who worked here at the time and I do not want to paint them with the same brush.
Cons
However, there is a fair amount of technical debt, undocumented accumulated knowledge, and a general in-it-for-themselves mentality with a select group of upper management. This would have been OK if people were working to address these issues but people who tried seemed to be actively worked against. I suspect it is this last realization which caused a lot of the people who were smart, helpful, and team oriented to leave in waves. Ironically there is a book in the London book shelf, “Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box“, which many could have benefitted from but if once read was now forgotten. (An aside: this book is definitely worth reading and a book I think most people can gain value from, especially if you are willing to take an honest look at yourself). A general strategy that most employed was to avoid upper management whenever possible, to be very defensive when interacting with them, and avoid any negative feedback.
A tip: If you are a team player, seek out others like this in the organization and get to know them; Many will not help you if it is not in their immediate interest.
Really it is a shame that such a potentially impactful company is saddled with these problems.
Finally, looking back, there are some more proactive steps I could have taken to resolve some of these issues but do not expect the culture to encourage it.