Pros
- Still a reasonably small company, so it's a great place to have impact / gain experience. You won't be designing the same little widget over and over again. - Lots of opportunity to take on cross-functional projects and become an expert in multiple areas. - The mission is very exciting! Rocket flights are literal product launches, and it's really gratifying to see your work go to space. - Work/life balance still manages to be good, at least in some teams. - The product is a spaceship.
Cons
- New senior leadership gives the impression that they don't care about needs of the rank-and-file employees. They prefer to work in the company's new Orange County office, furthering the impression that they are out of touch. All promotions have been on ice since the new CEO arrived last year, and yet we keep hiring new management - as of this writing we have 15(!) vice presidents in a company of about 800 people. - Top-heavy org structure has yielded a lot of 'managing', with no real leadership. The company lurches from crisis to crisis with no real plan for fixing the systemic issues that cause those crises. Program management pushes aggressive deadlines, then is surprised when the understaffed engineering teams can't meet them. - Byzantine processes - trying to perform the simplest tasks often feels like pulling teeth. Pointless interdepartmental squabbles cause delays in engineering and production. Even ordering cheap parts for testing can take months - I've seen a few parts requests take over a year to be filled. - Leadership focuses on superficial upgrades while neglecting to address deeper issues. We got a fun new break room with nitro cold brew, yet employees are heading for the exits due to the issues listed above. As of this writing, leadership says they "are aware of the issues" and have been promising fixes to these problems "soon" for the past 9 months, yet no real changes have been made and they won't commit to dates when pressed. - Company culture has gone downhill the last few years due to the above issues. Morale is very low, even after successfully flying Sir Richard to space. Used to feel like a funky scrappy underdog (the whole Virgin Group culture), but now the feel is more of a dysfunctional, uncaring corporation.
