GRAIL reviews

2.9

42% would recommend to a friend

(218 total reviews)

Bob Ragusa

39% approve of CEO

32% positive business outlook

GRAIL has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 218 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The GRAIL employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

218 reviews
2.0
Aug 8, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Typical start up situation--allows for rapid growth and career development. Some amazing and brilliant people.

Cons

Oddly enough, among so many brilliant minds, I felt as if I was getting dumber by working here. On my team, Middle Management did not trust or care to delegate decision making and autonomy to lower level managers or subject matter experts. Decision making on their level would swing from extreme risk aversion to sweeping changes with no risk mitigation, making projects difficult to predict. Favoritism on my team was rampant and hardly ever seemed to be based on aptitude, but rather who was most submissive to management. Though a start up with lots of work to be done, many team members were more focused on their own advancement and promoting themselves without doing much important work, and would bring down others to get ahead. Additionally, Grail may be innovative in some ways, but not in product development; they are far behind similar companies. Little chance to see and be a part of innovation combined with frustrating management and toxic culture made for a difficult working environment.

5.0
Sep 18, 2018

Transparent and Collaborative Culture

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

+ Highly talented and intelligent individuals across the organization working together to advance the mission of the company + Very inclusive work environment that encourages and values everyone's opinion and input regardless of level/title + Although we've had a few leadership changes the past year, I am very optimistic about the direction of the company under Jennifer Cook + Team is small which allows individuals to own and take on a variety of projects + Genuinely nice folks here. I have worked at other companies (big and small) and I must say the people here are especially humble, friendly, supportive, and collaborative + Nice perks such as shuttle, catered lunches, snacks, state-of-the-art gym with TRX and medicine balls, etc + Work life balance

Cons

- Since Grail is still a young company, not everything is well defined or established yet. May not be the best environment for individuals who like to have structure or procedures to follow at all times. - Traffic to Menlo Park from South Bay and SF can be tough during peak hour. However, we are allowed to work around the traffic.

2.0
Sep 6, 2018

Exciting place to work, but with many caveats.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The mission is absolutely incredible. - Most folks at GRAIL seem to be really motivated by the mission. - Really well funded.

Cons

- Leadership at GRAIL are from really large biotechnology/ pharmaceutical companies and academics which greatly influenced the operating framework, employee behaviors, and values (re: decisions made in a vacuum, resistance to change, land grabbing, competing for kudos etc). - No value placed on creating an environment where you got to learn about your colleagues both professionally and personally. Company wide events often held at awkward times which meant really low attendance. Seemed like very little resources allocated to team events albeit being super well funded. - Incredibly gossipy environment. Feedback often delivered indirectly. No empathy for each other. - High churn. Most folks only stay for a year or less, particularly at the leadership levels.

Viewing 199 - 201 of 218 Reviews

Glassdoor has 240 GRAIL reviews submitted anonymously by GRAIL employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if GRAIL is right for you.