Talent Acquisition Partner

Rocket Lab Corp.; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Auckland is seeking a Talent Acquisition Partner to recruit world-class technical engineering and aerospace talent in a fast-paced environment. You will operate closely with hiring managers, guiding decisions and maintaining momentum to deliver when it matters most.

This role is fully office-based, Monday to Friday, with no flexible or remote work arrangements. You’ll join a high-trust, high-performing team that values clarity, speed, and results.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of recruitment experience.
• Proven technical engineering or aerospace recruitment experience, essential.
• Success sourcing hard-to-find technical talent through multiple channels.
• Experience from either agency or in-house recruitment.
• Strong relationship building; hiring managers and candidates trust you because you deliver.
• Ability to manage conflicting, urgent priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• Creative problem-solving and adaptability when plans shift.
• A collaborative mindset; you thrive in a high-trust, high-performing team.
• The Rocket Lab hustle, urgency, resilience, and a drive for results.

Responsibilities

• Recruit world-class technical engineering and aerospace talent in a fast-moving environment.
• Partner with hiring managers to navigate complex engineering requirements.
• Influence hiring decisions and advocate for exceptional candidates.
• Maintain momentum amid shifting priorities and deliver when it matters most.
• Collaborate with a high-performing team to meet recruitment goals.

Skills

Recruitment experience

Technical engineering recruitment

Aerospace recruitment

Agency or in-house recruitment

Stakeholder management

Prioritization under pressure

Creative problem solving

Collaboration in high-trust teams

Job description

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.

While other companies talk about it, we do it!

Rocket Lab’s People & Culture team is responsible for looking after our most valuable asset : our people . Across our global teams , the People & Culture team supports our people and departments across recruitment , new staff orientation , compensation , training and development . They make sure our growing and diverse global team is supported and capable of delivering our projects and customer’s missions , and they’re responsible for supporting their development , nurturing their skills and talent , and retaining the world-class people already on our team .

WHAT YOU'LL GET TO DO:

We’re building a newly formed, high‑performing Talent Acquisition team, pushing boundaries, raising the bar, and redefining recruitment at Rocket Lab. We work fast, trust each other, and deliver. To match our pace and ambition, we’re hiring a Talent Acquisition Partner with proven ability to recruit world‑class technical engineering and aerospace talent.

You’ll operate in a highly technical, fast‑moving environment, partnering with hiring managers who rely on your guidance and expertise to navigate complex engineering requirements. Proven technical engineering or aerospace recruitment experience is essential, the complexity and speed of the work demand it.

You’ll influence hiring decisions, advocate for exceptional candidates, manage shifting priorities, and maintain momentum. This role demands the Rocket Lab hustle: moving fast, solving creatively, adapting instantly, and delivering when it matters most.

YOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

5+ years of recruitment experience

Proven technical engineering or aerospace recruitment experience, essential

Success sourcing hard‑to‑find technical talent through multiple channels

Experience from either agency or in‑house recruitment

Strong relationship building, hiring managers and candidates trust you because you deliver

Ability to manage conflicting, urgent priorities in a fast‑moving environment

Creative problem‑solving and adaptability when plans shift

A collaborative mindset, you thrive in a high‑trust, high‑performing team

The Rocket Lab hustle, urgency, resilience, and a drive for results

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE APPLYING:

You don’t go to Mars working eight to five, Monday to Friday. The lights are always on at Rocket Lab because the work we do matters. When a launch window opens, we go. When a customer needs us, we deliver. When the mission calls, we answer.

This isn’t a role for someone seeking to coast. It’s for someone who wants their work to matter, someone who understands that hiring world‑class technical talent is how we achieve the impossible.

WHAT YOU’LL GET:

• The challenge of recruiting for one of the most innovative companies in aerospace
• A team that values your expertise, trusts you deeply, and has your back
• The satisfaction of knowing every hire contributes to mission

If you thrive under pressure, love the hunt for exceptional technical talent, and want to work on missions that genuinely matter, let’s talk.

Please be aware that this role is fully office‑based, Monday to Friday, with no flexible or remote work arrangements.

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.

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN US OFFICES ONLY:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR here .

Rocket Lab provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment at Rocket Lab, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for the application/interview process for a job in the United States should contact Giulia Johnson at [e-mail]. This dedicated resource is intended solely to assist job seekers with disabilities whose disability prevents them from being able to apply/interview. Only messages left for this purpose will be considered. A response to your request may take up to two business days.

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.