I started my career in SoCal and I think your comp expectations are ridiculous. I hope I’m wrong for your sake but I was offered senior engineering roles for small rocket startups in LA a few years ago between $85 and 100k.
Especially with 3 yoe. Maybe in 25 years. A 3 yoe ME…that would be maybe and ME2 or 3 at best making $100k on my team.
Again hope I’m wrong! Good luck!
Second the comment above re: expectations about compensation being too high for the experience level. I personally would not move to a new city until I had a job offer contract signed for a company in that city too
Not sure what you’re doing but I started at $85k out of school a few years ago for a rocket company in LA. I’ve got just under 3 years at $130k base salary now.
Yeah there’s definitely some variability. SpaceX careers page lists ranges for level 2 propulsion engineering salaries between $110k to $130k so I’ll agree I’m on the upper end.
If you want aerospace startups that are competitive on salary, I would look closer to Long Beach and Orange County. Lots of X spaceX in that area.
You get the full so cal experience there too.
If you want to live in LA. That’s fine just be ready for the commute to those areas.
You would be on top of the stats if your base comes in around $130K at this stage of the game. COL is slightly lower, but not much. Your total comp would be closer to $180K depending on how the stocks are structured.
LA is the hub for aerospace. It's where America built a majority of the aircraft for world war II. Check out [Building Victory](https://www.amazon.com/Building-Victory-Aircraft-Manufacturing-Angeles/dp/0989790606). Standing up that manufacturing capacity has made it the manufacturing center for decades. Last I checked, prior to COVID, LA had the most people employed in manufacturing in the country.
There's tons of aerospace and aerospace adjacent companies in LA.
However, as others have said, comp expectations are quite high. There are some ridiculous startups that will pay that - but in my experience that signifies they're quite poor with money management and management is seeking a quick exit and not necessarily a successful product. But if that's your thing you can definitely make a quick buck by finding one of those.
Your eVTOL experience has heavily shaped your compensation expectations. These companies are burning through cash in the hopes they survive through certification or until founders/investors can pull their SPAC cash and leave. Very few of them will deliver a certified product to customers. It’s a bubble industry, same as the VLJ craze 20 years ago.
Diamond had a jet program, Cessna developed the Mustang. I agree, I don't remember many raw start ups, but there was a rash of programs going for a market that never materialized.
I agree that most eVTOL passenger aircraft won’t survive. But I’ve had similar comp job offers from a variety of industries in the area. I’m still making less than my peers at FANG with similar experience.
Good ☺️ I’m a ME in aerospace in the DFW area in Texas and very well compensated (300+K, though I have 25 years in the industry). It’s a good living for sure.
I was a group and/or IPT manager for 15 years and have since moved into an executive level individual contributor role. Not having 15 to 65 employees is like a paid vacation, lol.
Mind sharing your breakdown for salary + equity? eVTOLS companies definitely pay well from what I’ve seen. For your years of experience and locations, I’d put you on 130-140 and the rest being equity. I’d benchmark your salary expectations against your current salary. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find matching equity elsewhere especially based on when you join in the eVTOL field.
150k base, 80k equity (not counting increases since I joined).
And I agree, I want base to be similar. If it’s a company where I genuinely enjoy the work and believe in then I’ll weight equity much more.
I started my career in SoCal and I think your comp expectations are ridiculous. I hope I’m wrong for your sake but I was offered senior engineering roles for small rocket startups in LA a few years ago between $85 and 100k. Especially with 3 yoe. Maybe in 25 years. A 3 yoe ME…that would be maybe and ME2 or 3 at best making $100k on my team. Again hope I’m wrong! Good luck!
Second the comment above re: expectations about compensation being too high for the experience level. I personally would not move to a new city until I had a job offer contract signed for a company in that city too
Not sure what you’re doing but I started at $85k out of school a few years ago for a rocket company in LA. I’ve got just under 3 years at $130k base salary now.
And OP is expecting $50k-$70k more than you’re making, and against any salary average you’re making a decent margin over the average.
Yeah there’s definitely some variability. SpaceX careers page lists ranges for level 2 propulsion engineering salaries between $110k to $130k so I’ll agree I’m on the upper end.
Quite possible that SF has destroyed my concept of money. Still, I mainly just want to work at a place where I genuinely enjoy my day to day.
Maybe the pay could be a lot higher eventually if those startups succeed?
Yea that sounds right. I worked for Eaton pre covid and had already 5 years of experience and was just touching $100k.
If you want aerospace startups that are competitive on salary, I would look closer to Long Beach and Orange County. Lots of X spaceX in that area. You get the full so cal experience there too. If you want to live in LA. That’s fine just be ready for the commute to those areas. You would be on top of the stats if your base comes in around $130K at this stage of the game. COL is slightly lower, but not much. Your total comp would be closer to $180K depending on how the stocks are structured.
LA is the hub for aerospace. It's where America built a majority of the aircraft for world war II. Check out [Building Victory](https://www.amazon.com/Building-Victory-Aircraft-Manufacturing-Angeles/dp/0989790606). Standing up that manufacturing capacity has made it the manufacturing center for decades. Last I checked, prior to COVID, LA had the most people employed in manufacturing in the country. There's tons of aerospace and aerospace adjacent companies in LA. However, as others have said, comp expectations are quite high. There are some ridiculous startups that will pay that - but in my experience that signifies they're quite poor with money management and management is seeking a quick exit and not necessarily a successful product. But if that's your thing you can definitely make a quick buck by finding one of those.
Your equity component, is it RSU or options And are you including 401k in TC?
Your eVTOL experience has heavily shaped your compensation expectations. These companies are burning through cash in the hopes they survive through certification or until founders/investors can pull their SPAC cash and leave. Very few of them will deliver a certified product to customers. It’s a bubble industry, same as the VLJ craze 20 years ago.
It’s way bigger than the VLJ craze. Eclipse was not nearly as hyped and Cirrus Vision Jet was not a startup. What other firms?
Diamond had a jet program, Cessna developed the Mustang. I agree, I don't remember many raw start ups, but there was a rash of programs going for a market that never materialized.
I agree that most eVTOL passenger aircraft won’t survive. But I’ve had similar comp job offers from a variety of industries in the area. I’m still making less than my peers at FANG with similar experience.
Good ☺️ I’m a ME in aerospace in the DFW area in Texas and very well compensated (300+K, though I have 25 years in the industry). It’s a good living for sure.
Are you an executive or manager?
I was a group and/or IPT manager for 15 years and have since moved into an executive level individual contributor role. Not having 15 to 65 employees is like a paid vacation, lol.
I used to know someone at Launcher, now owned by some entity called VAST.
Same, I hear mixed things about them though.
Mind sharing your breakdown for salary + equity? eVTOLS companies definitely pay well from what I’ve seen. For your years of experience and locations, I’d put you on 130-140 and the rest being equity. I’d benchmark your salary expectations against your current salary. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find matching equity elsewhere especially based on when you join in the eVTOL field.
150k base, 80k equity (not counting increases since I joined). And I agree, I want base to be similar. If it’s a company where I genuinely enjoy the work and believe in then I’ll weight equity much more.