SpaceX Structures Designer reviews

3.4

58% would recommend to a friend

(35 total reviews)
avatar

Elon Musk

73% approve of CEO

99% positive business outlook

Structures Designer employees have rated SpaceX with 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 35 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Structures Designer professionals have a good working experience there. SpaceX is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Structures Designer professionals compared to other employers within the Aerospace & Defense industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

35 reviews
4.0
Mar 17, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The work environment is very fast paced. The average age of the SpaceX team is well under 30. Groups are typically very small and each individual engineer has a huge amount of responsibility. It is very nice as an engineer to have such a large amount of control over your project and to make large impacts on the flight vehicle design. You will be exposed to a wide variety of projects which keeps work interesting and you learning as an engineer. Engineers are responsible for their parts from conception to flight - making CAD models, doing analysis, making drawings, and working with the manufacturing and production teams. Engineers are very unlikely to be pigeon-holed into a specific tasks for years on end. As the company is growing in size it has managed to keep much of the small company feel within the engineering groups. In addition most peoples hours have been scaled back to 50-60/week, but it can still jump to 80+ in crunch time. Working as an engineer at Spacex is really about working with a bunch really bright people to build some awesome hardware and send it to space. You will have to make some sacrifices to do so but being part of such an incredible endeavor is worth it.

Cons

Management styles, hours worked, and compensation all vary wildly among groups within engineering and throughout the company. Large expectations, little direction from managers, frequent changes of direction, and general hard work culture makes SpaceX not for everyone.

5.0
Mar 17, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work at Spacex is demanding but rewarding. There are few if any other places in the world where you'll find the opportunities Spacex offers. Highlights include: -Incredible opportunities to design, analyze, test and build flight hardware. All in an extremely short time frame, especially for aerospace. Get to truly see your projects cradle to grave. -Unsurpassed learning pace. Easily the fastest I've ever learned. Given the pace of progress and the flexibility expected from engineers you will learn a wide skill set very quickly. -Range of projects. Most employees aren't be doing the same thing every day. Many opportunities to run analysis, conduct testing, manufacture R&D parts, concept designs etc. etc. -Rockets are built in the same building. Very tight feedback loop between engineering and production. Go walk 100ft and see your parts being built or the problem item in person. -Company culture. Relaxed but very motivated with get-things-done attitude. Casual dress code. Silicone valley inspired perks, free coffee, froyo, subsidized food etc. -Company is overall pretty young and most employees are like-minded and amiable.

Cons

-Due to the responsibility placed on each employee work hours can often be long. Generally if you are reasonable about your time this isn't so much an issue. Some days will require longer hours or than normal no doubt. -Compensation is generally competitive but not outstanding considering the hours most employees keep.

5.0
Mar 12, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Hardware is key at Spacex, the best part of working here is the ability to see all phases of your project. From conception, to design, manufacture, testing, and launch! I don't think there are many places where you can get up from your desk and walk 100 yards to see your design work in action. Not to mention, continue to be involved on the production side as well. There is a lot of interaction between design engineering and production so expect to wear a lot of hats and tackle a variety of different tasks. On the way to the rocket assembly line grab yourself a free latte or frozen yogurt. You will be challenged and will not be held back from doing whatever it is you feel you need to do to accomplish your goals. Stock options give everyone ownership of the company and reason to believe that their hard work will be handsomely rewarded.

Cons

The biggest drawback to having so much personal responsibility is the time commitment. The pace of development is expected to be much faster than the rest of the industry. Hours can be long but usually you find yourself staying because you really want to. On the flipside, rapid development leads to new projects and challenges, you won't be bogged down on the same relentless boring project here.

Viewing 25 - 27 of 35 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,695 SpaceX reviews submitted anonymously by SpaceX employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if SpaceX is right for you.