Worst Mistake of my Career! - Professional Sierra Space Employee Review

1.0
Jun 1, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Above average compensation. Beautiful facility. Very smart and competent people at the tactical level. Too bad the company doesn't listen to them.

Cons

All cut-throat politics, no leadership. Every department working toward their own agenda and against each other, with poor communication, lack of collaboration, and no cohesiveness. Parent company SNC's legacy systems, from time keeping to employee policies, are outdated, archaic, and will be what drowns this 'start-up.' 1-year wait on 401k with 6-year vest is not market competitive. Zero flexibility for RTO or work life balance in general. New CPO lacks even an ounce of human compassion. New CTO, who was fired from SpaceX, is so anti-female that he's a liability. Abrasive, bullying, toxically competitive behavior is rewarded instead of corrected. Leaders are merely figureheads, acting as CEO's yes-people. He may have vision, but the team he's assembled from his prior company are just groupies, and for an organization to be truly great he must harness the power of the worker bee talent and direct them to execute with a plan, not just drink the Koolaid. It's all smoke and mirrors, no substance.

Explore other reviews about Sierra Space

5.0
Jul 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Joined a few months ago, right as Dan Jablonsky (ex-Maxar, ex-Ursa Major) took over as CEO and the company closed a $550M Series C at an $8B valuation. That combination of new operational leadership plus fresh capital is rare to walk into, and you can feel the shift toward more disciplined execution already. The mission itself is the real draw: Dream Chaser, the LIFE habitat, Orbital Reef, national security space work. The company is pushing hard on modern AI tooling across engineering, from code assistance to workflow automation, so you’re not fighting decade-old tooling to get things done. And unlike the primes, the company is still small enough that an individual engineer can move a program forward, not just a ticket queue. If you want your work to be traceable to a launch, this is one of the few places left where that’s true.

Cons

This is a company mid-transition: post-spinoff, post-CEO-change, scaling fast, so process and communication are still catching up to ambition. Expect some rough edges: unclear ownership on cross-team work, evolving standards, and the pace that comes with a fast-growing R&D shop. If you need a fully mature org chart and buttoned-up process on day one, wait a year or two.

1.0
Jul 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay was decent and 401k match was great if you could last that long.

Cons

This was the biggest speed bump in my career to date. The company was dragged down by the dream chaser heritage and process. Nothing moves fast, I’m not sure how much work is actually happening here. Everyone seems busy with endless meeting yet nothing gets done. Their satellite production facility was nothing more than a couple empty buildings they had a lease on, no real work happened to develop these into workable spaces and they sat empty while we had more meetings to talk about what we should do. Little to no ability to progress in your career, rarely saw promotions other than senior leadership. PTO policy was subpar, two weeks per year that must be accrued is terrible for anyone mid career and above.

1
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All