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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lots of good responses here about the specific question posed in the title.

But since we seem to have a quorum of technical space folks, this seems like a good place to plug FFRDCs -- Aerospace and JPL are the two that come to mind for your field. [I don't know how big JPLs presence is in this area, other than knowing that it's non-zero. I have two team members now that are JPL employees.] In particular, I'd be surprised if you encountered the same attitude towards 'retooling gov't engineers' that you've experienced so far. The work at this companies is exclusively (or darn close to it) government focused, with a high concentration of technical work and a low amount of biz dev work. I've found it's the sweet spot for my interests and technical field (not space) and it's definitely different from other options discussed upthread. It's not without its downsides (still somewhat at the whims of sponsors, definitely some of the stodginess of gov't and none of the thrill of startups, etc) but worth taking a look. [/quote]

Went through this whole discussion planning to add this.  You could also consider the studies and analysis FFRDCs if you want to stay in the DC area.  CNA, IDA, and RAND.  APL is nearby in Maryland.  MITRE might be a possibility as well.  Interesting work even if you won't be plotting Rich Purnell maneuvers.  [/quote]

Agreed, FFRDCs do offer a chance to do interesting work and a chance to do real innovation in a more nimble organization

But going to focus of original OP, I don't think they pay appreciably better.  I think a senior manager type would top out at $180k?  That is what my colleagues report at least!  A nice bump from $115, but probably have to put time in to make it that high and never get a real bump as might see in private?[/quote]

Re: pay & FFRDCs. I think you'd really have to dig into details (much like the ind contractor vs fed analysis) to conclude much of anything. If salary is truly the most important criteria, then no, FFRDCs probably aren't the right place. But then again, neither are the big private/commercial companies, at least not at this stage in a persons career. An advantage of FFRDCs is that the work can stay technical (maybe more technical management) through an entire career with salaries pushing $200k, without ever having much of any business development demands or up-or-out pressures. I weighed options about two years ago when I made a similar change, and the benefits at my FFRDC (particularly monetary ones -- health costs and retirement contributions) more than made up the salary difference. You'd really need to look at specifics, and then try to decide how much you value stability. It's true that probability of high salary - at least temporarily (several years) - is probably higher in the private/commercial sector. [/quote]

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