Supervisor - Mechanical Production (Evening Shift)

Rocket Lab; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab seeks a Supervisor - Mechanical Production (Evening Shift) to lead up to 20 technicians in our Electron production environment in New Zealand. You will oversee quality, delivery, costs, safety, and continuous improvement on the evening shift (Mon-Thurs 15:00-01:30).

Responsibilities include assigning tasks, ensuring procedures are followed, maintaining quality, training, and reporting metrics to drive performance. Strong leadership and aerospace QA experience are essential.

Qualifications

• High School diploma, NCEA level 2 (60+ credits) or equivalent.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience.
• 3 years of quality assurance inspection in aviation/aerospace manufacturing.
• Proven ability to manage resources to meet expected production rate increases.
• Demonstrated capability in aligning capacity to production forecasts.
• Proven ability to develop leadership skills in direct reports.

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise up to 20 technicians to meet quality standards and production schedules.
• Take full responsibility for health and safety within your area and ensure all procedures are followed.
• Assign workflow and delegate daily tasks effectively to optimize production efficiency.
• Maintain quality standards for all work in your designated functional area.
• Manage the team's skills matrix and ensure required training and certifications are completed.
• Conduct root-cause-analysis and implement production-related corrective action plans.
• Authorise the release of flight components to the next workstation in accordance with procedures.
• Report on daily team metrics and outputs to drive performance and continuous improvement.
• Support R&D activities and assist with pre-production manufacturing processes.
• Provide immediate performance feedback and develop leadership capabilities in direct reports.

Skills

Leadership

Health & Safety

Production supervision

Quality assurance

Root cause analysis

Training & development

Workflow management

Communication

Education

High School diploma / NCEA Level 2

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Supervisor - Mechanical Production (Evening Shift)

Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity's reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine. Come shape the future with us.

ELECTRON

Rocket Lab's Electron team is responsible for building, testing, and launching our Electron rocket across our launch sites and test facilities in the United States and New Zealand. Electron is one of the world's most frequently-launched rockets, and our team behind its success are diligent, move fast, and have each others' back to deliver a reliable rocket to the launch pad time and time again.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

In this hands-on leadership role, you will be responsible for supervising and managing up to 20 production technicians while overseeing quality, delivery, and costs within the production environment. This is a key role that requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and a commitment to operational excellence and safety.

WHAT YOU'LL GET TO DO:

• Lead and supervise up to 20 technicians to meet quality standards and production schedules
• Take full responsibility for health and safety within your area and ensure all procedures are followed
• Assign workflow and delegate daily tasks effectively to optimize production efficiency
• Maintain quality standards for all work in your designated functional area
• Manage the team's skills matrix and ensure required training and certifications are completed
• Conduct root-cause-analysis and implement production-related corrective action plans
• Authorise the release of flight components to the next workstation in accordance with procedures
• Report on daily team metrics and outputs to drive performance and continuous improvement
• Support R&D activities and assist with pre-production manufacturing processesProvide immediate performance feedback and develop leadership capabilities in direct reports

YOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

• High School diploma, NCEA level 2 (at least 60 credits) or equivalent
• Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience
• 3 years of quality assurance inspection in aviation/aerospace manufacturing
• Proven ability to manage resources to meet expected production rate increases
• Demonstrated capability in aligning capacity to production forecasts
• Proven ability to develop leadership skills in direct reports

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:

• High level of responsibility and accountability towards team performance
• Demonstrated ability to improve processes and increase efficiency
• Exceptional attention to detail with ability to produce work to high accuracy standards
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• Ability to read, understand, and follow manufacturing instructions and drawings
• Capable of working effectively both in a team environment and autonomously
• Strong role model for safety culture

NOTE: This role is for our Evening Shift pattern: Mon - Thurs 15:00 - 01:30

WHAT TO EXPECT

We're on a mission to unlock the potential of space to improve life on Earth, but that's not an easy task. It takes hard work, determination, relentless innovation, teamwork, grit, and an unwavering commitment to achieving what others often deem impossible. Our people out-think, out-work, and out-pace. We pride ourselves on having each other's backs, checking our egos at the door, and rolling up our sleeves on all tasks big and small. We thrive under pressure, work to tight deadlines, and our focus is always on how we can deliver, rather than dwelling on the challenges that stand in the way.

Important information:

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN NEW ZEALAND OFFICES ONLY:

For security reasons, background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant. These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Under these Regulations, you may be ineligible for this role if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a country that is part of NATO, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality. For more information on these Regulations, click here ITAR Regulations.