benefits coordinator

project coordinator

office coordinator

human resources generalist

health physicist

Niowave

Upper management has no plan. On the surface they do but if you look close the holes in the story become apparent. their words and their actions are not aligned. I don't think they planned on getting as far as they did and now are uncertain how to move forward. As a result any of their plans come late and incredibly half baked. 

Many good people leave because they realize they can do better.  Niowave does everything the difficult way. Cutting corners, cutting safety measures, cutting quality - whatever it takes to hit their target. But due to lack of planning from upper management the company never truly "hit" a target they just get "close enough" and celebrate as if they did. 

People typically say its the people that keep them there at Niowave. From my experience I have seen a majority of egotistical, lazy and backstabbing coworkers. Many of the people I have worked with are on edge, aggressive, disgruntled and incredibly unhelpful.  There is a minority of people that are really talented and wonderful to work with but they are easily overshadowed by the people that hate being there, the know-it-alls taking with their ego and the people that like to stir up trouble because they don't like that they are excluded from a project.

The facility at Niowave is....well...bad. The HQ is a crumbling schoolhouse. It's uncomfortable for basically 7 months out of the year. There is no central AC system and the heat is from a boiler. No one can agree on how to heat or cool the building so that subject comes with alot of arguing. Leaks in the roof, moldy tiles, child sized toilets - Its not a good look.  The production and R&D Facilities have AC in the labs but everywhere else is sweltering in the summer. 

Niowave does not like to promote from within. The engineering department has seen 4 different department heads in 4 years meanwhile people with 10+ years of tenure are still in the same position that they hired for. Additionally we are on our 3rd COO since I started. They choose to ignore the issues people bring up and would rather hire someone from outside with a resume that says they saved the world. Its not sustainable. 

You will either have too much work or nothing to do. When you have too much work and get burned out they will tell you "just one more push" or whatever it takes for you to keep shouldering it and keep you working. Lots of petty games played by  your peers - some members of management will tolerate that behavior while some activity contribute to it. 

To put it short. Niowave doesn't care about their employees. They will take everything you have and then kick you to a curb or shove you in the corner when you don't have anything else to give.  Management doesn't have a plan or even a modicum of a plan. Employee health, safety or wellbeing all comes second to the goal.

These reviews get brought up in every interview. They tell you that was "old Niowave" its better now. While that may be partially true if you look at the inner workings of the place you will see that they just got better at hiding the disfunction. With no plan, infighting among departments and the constant pressure to hit unrealistic deadlines the only hope for this place to have any longevity is for them to get bought out by someone who knows what they are doing. 

Niowave's mission is to cure cancer and save lives. The company is transitioning from R&D to producing critical medical isotopes used in diagnostics and therapeutics, focusing on detecting and killing cancer. The collection of intelligent and enjoyable people here is first class. The company has many fun employee events throughout the year, such as the annual golf outing, a pumpkin painting/carving contest, an ugly sweater contest, a secret Santa gift exchange, a winter party, a canned food drive, and more. The work pace is increasing rapidly as the company transitions to producing medical isotopes, and it challenges your ability to be agile and learn continuously. You can create opportunities for yourself by being willing to take on more and stay fully engaged. With challenging tasks and tight timelines, as with most other businesses, it can be stressful, and you will have fluctuation in work-life balance from time to time. Still, overall it is a productive and rewarding work environment, especially as we inch closer to providing a product that can extend or save lives daily. Niowave currently lacks some of the benefits available in other companies, but the medical benefit premiums are 100% company paid. The benefit options will improve as the company grows. I would encourage anyone that genuinely wants to learn, challenge themselves, develop their skills and be a part of an exceptional company with a meaningful purpose to join our team!

The work environment can be horrible, in the winter you might find that your office is freezing because management wants to save money. But summer is the worst, they refuse to install A/C in their lab, so it regularly gets up to 100f in the building. If you stand next to their control racks it gets to about 125f; you'll know it's bad when the electronics start to fry from the heat.

Management is incompetent. They seem to have no actual plan for getting projects done, but will stop any ideas that involve spending money; even if it's money to be spent on supplies needed to build the very equipment management told you to build.

Add onto that how unsafe the job can actually be, the low pay, awful health insurance plan(high-deductible, no vision, no dental), no 401k match, and creativity destroying attitudes from upper management; and you have a good idea of what to expect.


But as I think all reviews point out, the people here are alright. I think it's a case of bonding through managerial adversity.

Don't pay anyone OT, even too the broom pushers.

Big promises no delivery.

The facilities are horrible, No A/C period.  No heat because they are too cheap to run the boiler on week ends.

They are dishonest to there customers and expect there employees to be as well.

Two engineers per room on road trips, travel policy is they pay  for nothing for your employees  

They have had harassment case, lost and kept the harasser with the company.

Asking people to put off surgeries, telling people where they have to live, preferably in company owned ghetto housing. 

Firing a girl because she got engaged.

Monarchical leader ship with the CEO being the only decision maker.  

No retirement or insurance to speak of.

Last of today's list, They even united the neighborhood into a pitch fork wielding mob.

No typical days - Niowave is an R&D company growing into a commercial production company

You learn something new every day as the work utilizes state-of-the-art science & technology in a unique application to produce cancer curing radioisotopes

Management is focused on the company mission, but there is so much going on that communication between management & employees sometimes struggles. This has improved vastly over the past several years though.

Hardest part of the job is ensuring you are spending your time on the right topics as there is always so much to do.

Most enjoyable part of the job is tackling complex changing challenges every day. 

They were sanctioned by the US Dept of Labor for cheating their employees out of overtime.  They lie about their compensation bonuses when they want to hire you.  You won't get what they say you will.  

Their management is universally inept and either dictatorial or sycophantic depending on where you rank in the company.  You will work long hours often for no reason other than your boss picks a number out of the air.  

They don't have a viable commercial product despite what their website says.  They survive on grants from the federal government who aren't smart enough (yet) to figure out they are being conned into funding research they didn't approve.  

In spite of it all, there are good people at this company.  Don't try to become one!

Pros: Niowave has a fast-paced work atmosphere and diverse (age, experience, ethnicity, education) workforce. There is infinite room for upward growth. The company prefers to promote from within and therefor has a Senior Management team of seasoned employees with strong technical backgrounds. The company mission statement to "cure cancer and save lives" gives employees a purpose they can be proud of. 

Cons: Lansing is a small city; The cost of living and crime rate are low, but there are fewer social scenes than in New York, Chicago, or LA. There is not a 401k match; They provide average salary and great stock options, but for someone looking for a 401k, this is not currently an option.

Great starting career but the pay is low, Benefits are not great, and new hires with no experience may take a position you were promised to be promoted into. But hey, lots of pizza parties. The work itself is really rewarding with lots of problem solving and freedom. The people are also great. lots of friendly people always willing to answer your questions and teach you things. And at the end of the day the work you do contributes to the fight against cancer 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people were the best part for sure

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The schedule was stressful and not having proper machinery to do the required tasks. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Some negative culture going on from top down. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Job was a lot of problem solving and trying to maintain a schedule.

I would suggest avoiding working at Niowave if possible. It only takes one bad meeting with the CEO and you will find yourself fired. The CEO seems to like to rule with fear and uncertainty. 

Niowave also likes to dangle carrots to try and placate you. Most of these are unobtainable due to projects not being approved or canceled outright without any new project to work on.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Benefits coordinator 1 salary reported	$52,500 per year
Project coordinator 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Office coordinator 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour
Human resources generalist 1 salary reported	$59,791 per year
Health physicist 1 salary reported	$120,000 per year

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