senior associate

associate

analyst

regional director

software engineer

Dimensional Fund Advisors

Sad to say the place I once loved is no longer where I want to be. Dimensional has sadly become a place full of greedy upper tier management who are completely disconnected with their lower level employees. Compensation has not kept up with the industry, promotion schedules are not clear, office politics are at an all-time high, and there are no signs of change given that all management seems to say is "everyone tells us they're happy." Don't know who they're talking to. It is such a shame because the people I interact with day-to-day are incredible. Fellow employees, personal manager, and even the senior RDs that I report to are awesome. Great culture, family-style environment on the micro level. But the middle management ruins the experience and the upper management is too disconnected to realize it. Very dysfunctional, discouraging, and frustrating place to work because of that. Day-to-day work is monotonous, and after a year becomes fairly stagnant. Little room for growth. Firm won't get with the times and upgrade their tools, so productivity suffers. Not to mention the employees are frustrated and less driven because of the management problems. WFH is good but the 3/2 model has become industry standard. Their only saving grace is the great people at the lower levels, nice office space, and good food. Hope management wakes up before their lower-level turnover doubles from an already insane amount. Can't recommend it for an early-career professional looking to grow. Maybe for someone senior.

Dimensional is full of extremely nice people- however the culture is lacking. It is slower pace than a lot of firms and still stuck in their old ways. They are trying to offer better benefits by recently offering "flex work hours" There still seems to be a stigma that being seen at your desk is sometimes better than the work you provide. Hardest part of the job is working with people who don't have the drive, that are there to just clock in and out on a daily basis. The most enjoyable part is how nice the majority of the employees are. The new Co-CEO's are trying to combat the older ways of the company however until the board gets a bit younger, it will still not be as flexible of a work place as many others in Austin. As a whole it is a good company to work for, but for the younger generation who will be one day running this company it would be smart to invest a bit more into them and into the culture of the company as a whole.

Poor middle management leaves employees scratching their heads on what the future roadmap is. Employees left wondering whether they will have a role or purpose going forward. A lot of time wasted in meetings with a huge hole left when decisions need to be made. Lack of product or technology ownership allows/causes departments to double up on tasks and duties causing much tension and frustration. No product/project 
transparency within departments. Misrepresentation of technical capabilities to achieve personal agendas. 

Its unfortunate because employees have hope that things will improve... but have waited so long that the hope is diminishing. 

If you want a stable job with good amenities and friendly colleagues Dimensional is a great place to be. However, if you're early in your career and looking for accelerated growth and learning, I'd caution you as it's easy to get comfortable here but the work lacks variety and is very hierarchal.  

Pros:
- good work life balance
- friendly colleagues 
- nice office space and great cafeteria 

Cons:
- the work can be monotonous at times and there's limited growth and learning at the junior level
- firm is slow to adopt new technologies that would improve efficiency and provide learning opportunities
- pay is lower than industry standard, but to be fair work life balance is great so it about evens out
- while the 3/2 hybrid model is great, there's little flexibility on certain teams about additional work from days. 


Most toxic and hostile work environment i have ever experienced, so many unhappy people its a really miserable existence. Weak middle management that are yes men stooges to senior management that are only interested in making themselves wealthy (at the expense of the people actually doing the work). No wonder this place has such a high rate of turn over, don't waste your time, there are plenty of asset managers out there that treat employees with respect and dignity. Key decision makers are just idiots, totally clueless regarding the institutional business, the teams are all run by retail focused managers that have no idea.

Most of work and accolades go to managers, which are DFA lifers. Not much to do for the rest of the team outside of mundane tasks that managers don't want to do. Very little knowledge sharing or teaching. The culture is to just get stuff done, not necessary use your brain. Must follow philosophy blindly without raising any questions - otherwise it will impact your career and advancement opportunities. This is not an investment job, it is a marketing role at the end of the day. 

The culture at Dimensional is one of mistrust and cover your butt. Lots of politics and dumb decisions being made at the top. Employees repeatedly asked for flexibility so management agree that instead of everyone working 8-5 employees could chose to work 7-4 or 9-6 but they must start and finish either on the hour or the half hour and work a full 9 hours with 1 hour lunch break, skipping lunch and leaving an hour earlier isn't an option. This should tell you all you need to know about how this place is run.

The company compensation package is no longer competitive for the talent they want to bring in. 

Dimensional is a terrible place to begin your career because you do not learn any skills that help you. Don't take my word for it; look at the trajectories of the the people who join before, during, and then after DFA. DFA materially hurts careers by slowing growth. Management is fine but many were in when the firm actually paid people well so they are vesting and resting. I would say that most people work less than 40 hours. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
This company makes money hand over fist.   The Exchange and the staff were the best part.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Clique leadership in some departments.  A culture of mean girls.  If you’re not a part of it, you won’t last long.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Clique and mean girls. Not accepting of diversity.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The “Exchange” onsite cafeteria.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The self-centered, unaware leadership.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible; DFA lost its way and cannot compete with other full service financial service companies.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Boring; leadership knows nothing about the various business lines and “leads” through simple metrics.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior associate 8 salaries reported	$102,125 per year
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