NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Reviews

Pros

Good benefits, decent pay, high focus on work/life balance, very unique work, increasing focus on DEI, good job stability

Cons

Red tape, some fields have lower salary potential than equivalent job in private industry, general procedural inefficiencies

Pros

Exploration, Space, job stability, innovation

Cons

JPL people are not civil servants though funds come mostly from NASA, which means soft money. Engineers have to work overtime because funds are insufficient and management layers are thick. If both parents are full-time and you have dependents, your life can be stretched and stressful. Despite the official presentation of family friendliness, diversity, equity, and inclusion, at the working level, you are expected to perform as if there were no dependents. I do not feel that the organization is 'inclusive' in this respect. Yes there are vacations and sick leaves, but if you miss rather minor deadlines due to family reasons, managers and the team will put you into a scapegoat without much sympathy rather than sharing burdens as a team. I feel it is the culture of the lab that finger pointing and scape goats are the way to keep the winners clean. In this way, the culture is similar to private companies, but offering lower salary. Large fraction of employees are singles or couples with no kids. You cannot compete with them and the lab does not seem to take into account the differences. Some people were very eager to find jobs here. Having heard of the overworking culture, hoever, they turn away. Others choose jobs at industry after a few years, so that they can earn enough salary and (probably) can use money to hire helpers. Surely, an organization has to pressure employees to complete delivery and perform. Too much pressure on these, however, seems to form a culture that you cannot make minor mistakes and miss minor deadlines. If you do, people around you exloit your vulnerability for their advantage

Pros

Working with some of the smartest people on the planet, who are solving some of the most difficult puzzles of our age: Where did life come from? Is there life on other planets, or has there ever been? What is the future of our earth? This requires the contributions not only of top-notch scientists and engineers, but also support functions like business/finance, human resources, facilities, etc. Many people here are incredibly bright, and with some notable exceptions, have very little ego.

Cons

Bureaucracy! JPL's relationship with NASA requires that JPL keep metrics on a number of different things that make no difference to anyone, but NASA hounds us for those metrics (or more to the point, the petty functionaries at NASA whose only jobs are to look after those metrics hound us for those metrics). It can be a real waste of time, and it gets the attention of JPL's top-level people because those metrics have been negotiated into Caltech's and NASA's prime contract for the operation of JPL. Opportunities for advancement are rare. JPL typically hires people in from the outside for jobs rather than advancing their own employees. Often you'll hear new managers talk with great authority about "JPL Culture" or how we've "Never Done It This Way Before" when if they would just listen to the people who've worked here for more than 10 minutes, they might start to get a clue.

Pros

Salary, Benefits, People, Food, Area

Cons

Poor mid-level management, excessive burden to employees for being part of Caltech, Lack of deep learning culture, limited career path, out of date buildings and offices

Pros

Feels amazing to play any kind of part in the history they make there. If you're an engineer or a scientist - you have lots of opportunity to do really interesting and innovative work. Vibe of being on lab is great - really does feel like being on a college campus - though the actual indoor office space is generally depressing so I tended to sit outside as much as possible. If you

Cons

If you're not an engineer or scientist - you're taking a step back in time as ways of operating as an organization are years behind the private section. Leadership is extremely slow moving on making decisions and is very hesitant to push for any real change no matter how much business sense it makes. It's very hard to feel like you're really making an impact with your days because of how slow moving everything is.

Pros

Affluent opportunities and challenges with one of a kind space projects Fair and above average pay if you are there long enough Paid time off Flexible Work Hours Benefits Package

Cons

Some bureaucracy Can be slow moving projects Slow management decisions and actions Projects can be under high schedule/cost pressures

Pros

Exciting projects, with ambitious dreams. There aren’t too many other places where you can work on such high impact projects!

Cons

Pay is low compared to other companies, especially for CA. Remote work policy is poor. Mentorship programs and career progression paths need significant revamping

Pros

- You'll be doing work beyond what is listed in the job description (which is a personal plus.) - Solid working community; most people you meet are professional, friendly, and usually willing to help. - Lots of opportunities to learn primary functions, smaller procedures, etc. Depending on how proactive you are, you'll learn something new almost every-day. - Feel and look of the lab is quite refreshing; quite a college campus-type feel. - Amazing opportunity for building experience.

Cons

- The type of work and exposure you get falls within the domain of who your management is. (It's possible you may get a less appealing role) - Lesser access to best-practices and tools. Business capabilities are quite limited relative to the private industries, leading to the development of several internal of ad-hoc tools. - Slower pacing. Depending on tasks/projects, it may take longer than usual to complete tasks.

Pros

The people, from the (frankly amazing) new Director all the way to the custodians, are super nice. People are happy to be there. There is a sense of mission -- they're not just there to make their executive rich (I used to work on Wall St), but to accomplish something wonderful. And it shows in the morale.

Cons

Because it's a Federal contractor, there are thousands of Rules. Few know even all the rules having to do with their jobs. There are lots of people willing to help, but even so, it is arcane. There may be technical approaches that would clarify things (structured documentation), but their Digital Transformation is far from complete.

Pros

Good work life balance, smart people

Cons

Bureaucracy can be a challenge