Vantaggi
The co-chairs are inspirational, and the mission is one of the most impressive things one can be part of. Amazing benefits package, and low pressure on defined work hours. The foundation has perhaps the most architecturally impressive building in Seattle, and it's beautiful to walk into every day. Well-dressed men and women doing important and very difficult things. Super cool to eat lunch in the Atrium and overhear conversations about solving some of the world's most intractable problems. Amazing cafeteria. Professional atmosphere.
Svantaggi
I only worked in IT, so I'll limit my comments to that area. The only opportunity to get promoted is if people leave; the CIO told us, "Don't expect upward mobility here." (super-inspirational, right?) IT is run as poorly as any IT organization I've seen, and I've seen many... it's 100% a "don't-make-any-mistakes-or-else" culture, there is absolutely no risk-taking encouraged or allowed. Nothing can get done without multiple meetings. Everything is consensus-driven, which might make sense in other areas of the foundation but doesn't serve IT or our customers around the foundation. Work that I've accomplished in days at other places takes months here. Every bad cliché about an old, slow IT department applies, and the reputation of IT around the foundation is awful. The most frustrating part is that the individual people are talented, and could handle a different culture, but the CIO not only has no vision or ability to drag the culture forward; after five years, he's the reason for the problems. If this were a sports team, performance this bad would result in the head coach being fired.