Pros
The mission of FINRA is amazing, and there is a lot of opportunity to try different things, experiment with new technology, and continue to learn. The work is interesting and important. Executive Leadership really seems to care about the staff and their direction over the past year has just been incredible. The pay is great and the benefits are wonderful. Colleagues are very smart, capable, and driven people. If you have a good manager who looks out for you and ensures that you have great opportunities, you will find the work very challenging and rewarding.
Cons
Senior Management definitely sets the priorities and tone for each department, which may or may not be in alignment with the tone and priorities set by the Executive Leadership Team. Particularly in Technology, few women make it past the Associate Director role. The great pay may come with long hours and absent or micro-management. A senior analyst role in one department could have a dramatically different set of expectations from a senior analyst in another department. Overall the experience varies dramatically depending on where you work. It is very clear from the Executive Leadership Team's actions that they are trying to address issues. It's just very unequal right now, and if you have a bad manager or are on the short end of the stick, work is exhausting. One particularly upsetting thing that happened to me - my manager didn't speak to me again after I resigned, and delegated all of my offboarding to another person on my team.