Novanta reviews

3.8

70% would recommend to a friend

(326 total reviews)
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Matthijs Glastra

71% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Novanta has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 326 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Novanta employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

326 reviews
4.0
Jan 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company works on some interesting stuff.

Cons

There are a lot of layoffs

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Novanta Response
5mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re glad you recognize the innovative and meaningful work happening across the company. At the same time, we understand that periods of change can raise concerns. As a global technology company operating in dynamic markets, we regularly evaluate how to best align our resources with strategic priorities to support long-term success. Our annual employee engagement survey is one way we listen to and measure feedback from our employees and make improvements in our workplace. We remain focused on delivering value to our customers, investing in our core capabilities, and building a resilient organization for the future.
5.0
Jan 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

• Smart, collaborative engineers and cross-functional partners—healthy respect for PMs and clear ownership. • Mission-driven products in medical/advanced surgery—easy to feel proud of the impact on clinicians and patients. • Solid project management discipline (Phase Gate / Report Out, PMO templates, PWA/Power BI) that helps align teams and make outcomes measurable. • Supportive leadership and helpful peers; I’ve experienced open communication and quick help across sites (US/EU). • Opportunities to modernize tools and practices (MS Project Web App, Polarion, Power BI, Loop/Teams). Continuous improvement is encouraged. • Competitive benefits and good work-life balance; flexible when big milestones demand extra effort.

Cons

• As a global company, cross-time-zone collaboration can be challenging at times; planning rhythms help but require discipline. • Company growth brings process changes, occasionally creates ambiguity; generally resolved quickly with PMO guidance.

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Novanta Response
5mo
Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed review, and for sharing your experience with us. We’re pleased to hear that the work feels meaningful and that our engineering talent, project management discipline, and global collaboration stand out. Delivering mission-driven products that make a real difference for clinicians and patients is core to who we are, and it’s encouraging to see that reflected in your experience. Operating as a global, growing organization brings complexity, and we intentionally rely on strong planning systems, Novanta Growth System (NGS) standards and processes, and modern tools like Gen AI to support alignment and execution across teams. It’s great to see those investments are contributing to clarity, collaboration, and measurable outcomes. We appreciate your suggestions and will continue to invest in NGS, resource visibility, sustainability, and our tooling roadmap as we scale. Thank you for being a part of the team and for contributing to the momentum you describe.
1.0
Dec 29, 2025

Disorganized Leadership and Limited Growth Despite Strong Messaging

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exposure to senior leadership and cross-functional work Opportunity to gain experience across learning initiatives Some colleagues are knowledgeable and personally supportive

Cons

Lack of role clarity; responsibilities shifted frequently without clear expectations or proper resourcing Titles and scope can change without meaningful compensation or authority adjustments Heavy workload with unrealistic timelines, often driven by reactive rather than strategic decision-making Limited structure, documentation, or processes, which creates confusion and inefficiency Leadership communication is inconsistent, and priorities change often Layoffs and restructuring create an atmosphere of instability and low psychological safety Employee contributions are not always recognized, and development opportunities feel limited

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Novanta Response
6mo
Thank you for sharing your perspective and for your contributions over the years. We’re glad you found value in the exposure to leaders and cross-functional work, and we appreciate your feedback on areas where we can improve. We’re continuing to strengthen role clarity, alignment, and communication through the Novanta Growth System, which helps bring more structure and consistency to how we operate and support our teams. One of our priorities is to build a culture where leaders and managers are empowered and accountable to drive role clarity, alignment, and career progression. Our peer-to-peer recognition programs celebrate employees’ contributions, and our quarterly all-employee town halls provide an opportunity for employees to hear from leaders about the company‘s direction, as well as ask questions and get answers. We also keep employees up to date through our biweekly Novanta News email and daily posts on the Collaboration Hub, our information source for employees. Your insights are helpful to us, and we’re grateful for your feedback. We wish you all the best in your next chapter.
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Glassdoor has 377 Novanta reviews submitted anonymously by Novanta employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Novanta is right for you.