Former employee, the admin side is the worst. Plenty of dead weight morons so that everyone else has to do their work.

Thank you for the responses! Looking specifically from the admin aspect. I have seen a few jobs open and thinking of going for it

It completely depends on your role, which IC, lab, department, etc. I'm a postdoc there now, and there are lots of positives to the role, with some drawbacks.

People are very passionate about their science there, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a greater concentration of PhDs, MDs, and MD/PhDs. Or, as the mug says: Big place. Lots of smart people.

Research side, science administration, what role?
It's a fabulous place to work, depending on what part like PP said. I was there for 3 years in a lab and it is amazing.

Very big and it depends on which part of it you are in, like most agencies in the federal government.

I work there. Great place to work. People believe in the mission. Very bright Feds for the most part.

Interested to hear anyone's thoughts/experiences.