Do yourself a favor and avoid - Senior Software Engineer Synack Employee Review

1.0
Mar 6, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good salary Good Benefits All remote

Cons

The listed pros are the only positives to be found at this company. Unfortunately, the engineering department is a disaster. The chief product officer is in charge of the engineering team despite lacking a technology background. The product management team prioritizes new features over ongoing work, and the CTO is uninvolved in any technical discussions. There are rumors on the FTE staff that the CTO's abrasive personality caused problems in the past, and that seems to be true based on old Glassdoor reviews. In addition to the issues with company management and infrastructure, it seems that the engineering team is also neglected in favor of the "front end of the house". Resources are disproportionately allocated towards these areas, with little regard for the technical requirements of the product. The sales team is constantly pushing for new features and functionality, often agreed to without considering the technical feasibility or impact on existing systems. This puts immense pressure on the engineering team to deliver, but without the necessary resources or support to do so. As a result, many engineers feel undervalued, with their contributions to the company largely unrecognized in team meetings. The company operates as a service company rather than a SaaS, meaning that most processes are manual. APIs and tech debt are neglected, and different engineering teams operate under different standards. Additionally, around half of the engineering team consists of contractors, and most other teams are not employed directly by the company. On the people front, the HR team sends regular emails asking for positive Glassdoor reviews, primarily targeting new employees still in the honeymoon phase. The company lacks basic benefits such as a 401K match, so it is advised to plan for retirement elsewhere. Recently, the company announced an all-company fly-out to a resort in San Diego, followed by a workforce reduction (i.e. layoffs) a month later. This is a clear sign of mismanagement, the CEO sent the usual exec-u-speak message "taking responsibility" however it's worth noting that none of the executives responsible for these decisions will be losing their jobs. As the Sales person in the previous review mentioned, this is not a great look after a large round of layoffs.

Explore other reviews about Synack

5.0
Jan 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Synack has been fun with tons of work

Cons

Ton of work for Pentesters

1.0
Apr 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay was good and unlimited PTO

Cons

In my experience, there were consistent challenges related to leadership communication, clarity of vision, and transparency in decision making. Changes were often made with limited context provided to employees, which made it difficult to feel aligned with the direction of the organization. Decisions affecting teams appeared unclear or not well explained, contributing to uncertainty and reduced confidence in leadership.

1
avatar
Synack Response
1mo
Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback. We genuinely value hearing from current and former team members - it helps us grow as an organization. Transparency, clear communication, and making employees feel informed and valued are areas we take seriously. We've made meaningful investments here, including more structured all-hands updates and dedicated channels for recognizing team contributions, but we know there is always more work to do. We recognize that changes without sufficient context can create uncertainty, and that's not the environment we want to build. Feedback like this helps us stay accountable to that standard. Our door is open, and we hope anyone with specific experiences or suggestions will feel encouraged to share them directly with leadership or through our internal feedback channels. We appreciate you sharing your perspective and wish you well.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All