DO NOT WORK THERE! - Anonymous employee S9 Architecture Employee Review

Exciting projects and great co-workers/ studio culture

Sometimes the hours are extremely demanding

Junior staff are all wonderful people and extremely talented. Pay is decent. Work life balance.

TLDR: leadership is a trainwreck, project managers are overworked, communication within design teams is substandard, design principal is egotistical and micromanages, disorganized, plays favorites, no sense of team or collaboration, archaic policies, and there is no flexibility or culture for employees whatsoever. Read on for further explanation of a few of these points. 1. Leadership/Management. - Project managers are completely overwhelmed and don't have time to properly help their staff. You will be spending a lot of time teaching yourself how to do things. - there is a lot of internal conflict/head-butting between higher ups, which makes it very difficult to perform your tasks as a designer. I didn't know who to go to most of the time because the design principal would tell me NOT to go to my project manager, behind her back. Very toxic and unhealthy behavior for higher ups and puts me in an uncomfortable position. - The design principal is notoriously a nightmare to work with and impossible to please. He does not know how to prioritize tasks or follow timelines which leads to a lot of weight on your shoulders nearing the end of a deadline. He has no patience, does not listen, interrupts you any time you try to voice your opinion, gets angry and passive aggressive easily depending on his mood that day, changes his mind on a whim, and breathes down your neck when you're trying to work. He's not a terrible person, but that doesn't excuse his behavior - he's an absolute disaster to work with and I cannot express enough how much of a hinderance that is when trying to learn and grow as a designer. - The design principal is also notorious for inappropriate behavior. It seems like he enjoys trying to turn young designers against each other and making them compete against one another. He brings designers into conference rooms for private one-on-one's quite regularly and will talk poorly of your colleagues and spread rumors about them, honestly I think out of boredom. There was one time he brought me in because he noticed I was less motivated, I thought we had a productive talk, but next day comes I'm out sick with a fever and he brings my coworker into a conference room and complains to her that I'm faking illness to avoid him, and not only did he break the confidentiality of our talk, he twisted all of my words when I was vulnerable and honest with him. I felt completely and utterly betrayed, and it's unfathomable that this is accepted behavior for a principal. - the firm will also play favorites and give special perks such as extra pay, PTO, and wfh flexibility, to said favorites under the table. If they didn't hide it, that would be less of an issue - but the fact that they do it secretly, is very suspicious and reinforces how little this firm values transparency and collaboration. 2. Zero Flexibility - Please note that there are no sick days - you must take PTO when you're not feeling well, and you are required to use 4 days of your PTO during Christmas week. You are not allowed to work from home, ever, even when you are on the mend from an illness but still in that contagious zone. They will make you either come into office or take PTO. So really, your recreational PTO is very minimal. And most people choose to come into the office sick rather than use PTO - it's incredibly unhealthy and puts others at risk. Illness spreads across the office like crazy throughout the year. - You are also forced to use PTO for doctor's appointments, etc., rather than being able to make up the time later. One time my coworker fainted in the bathroom and was forced to use PTO for that time lost. When my back spasmed on my way to work and I had to take an ambulance to the ER, I was forced to use PTO that day, rather than allowing us an opportunity to make up the time. This place nickels and dimes and is so rigid without consideration that we are actual human beings. 3. No Culture - There is no sense of team or family at S9 as a studio. They consider monthly design pinups "culture" but it's really more like lectures with snacks and beer. It's nice to have, but it doesn't add any culture when we are all sitting there in silence listening to presentations. Even the design principal understands that there needs to be more fun activities in the office - but the founding principal insists everything be educational. The office is incredibly stiff, and employee happiness is definitely not prioritized the way it should be. I wish they would learn that happy employees = more productive work and employees will be more willing to go the extra mile. I have tried to make a difference in culture by befriending people and bringing in board games to play during lunch, but that effort was not seen or valued by leadership. I'm afraid they are just stuck in their ways. When I say that no one is happy here, I mean, NO ONE is happy here. Some people are comfortable, and that is ok - but no one is genuinely happy, not even the higher ups. Most designers are quite miserable, and the turnover rate is extremely high due to not being able to work with the design principal. Be prepared to read a lot of farewell emails if you do decide to work here. Tech people seem to have a more stable experience, though, so if you're going into technical you might be ok and find a comfortable position. But if you are a designer, I would never in a million years, not even for money, recommend S9 as it is currently.