Very Different from the Ordinary Big-Box Aerospace Co. - Anonymous employee Blue Origin Employee Review

4.0
Mar 29, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working with the smartest, most ambitious engineers and scientists in the United States. Few constraints, particularly concerning money...if you need something, even if it costs 100K (or a million...), you'll get it. Uncle Jeff is on a mission, and if you need something, go get it...in fact, get two in case one breaks. None of the typical oversight or control functions you'd normally expect in a "human-capable" rocket manufacturer, so there are fewer obstacles to moving forward with the design/development process. The engineer is responsible for every aspect of his/her part or function, from design through prototyping, and then selecting an outsource or in-house manufacturing strategy, and finally QAing your parts and determining flight-worthiness. This strategy is not accidental...the whole idea was to throw out big-box aerospace's burdensome infrastructure, where it takes 5 managers weeks to make a simple drawing change. With very few exceptions, the engineer is responsible for providing a flight-worthy part/function/procedure.

Cons

Not much mentoring or hand-holding. You're expected to know your stuff, and to figure out how to make it happen. Tremendous growth in the last couple of years, without having a seasoned management team in place, has resulted in under-qualified people being pushed into levels of responsibility for which they aren't prepared. Confusion about direction and scope are common, and I personally advised a number of young engineers about navigating the confusion. Basically "Figure out what you're really good at, then find a team that needs that talent real bad." Good engineers were occasionally consumed in the confusion, but I believe the senior leaders felt that was the cost of growing the company rapidly.

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5.0
Jun 3, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Good team to work with. No complaints.

Cons

No cons at this point.

1.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free cheese and yogurt. Some people are nice others will make sure you fail

Cons

No equity unless you like monopoly money. No IPO for Blue ever and liquidity events are just bonus event. No work life balance. Toxic leadership who do not care about but will lie to you as long as you serve their own purpose. Everyone is looking, DO NOT come here!!! You will lose years of your life stressed out, frustrated and nothing but an average salary to show for. There are better places out there for space work

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