Lead Spacecraft Operations Engineer: Mission Ops & Automation

Rocketlab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grant

Stock purchase program

Comprehensive benefits

401(k) with company match

Onsite fitness centers

Job summary

Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer to lead mission operations and optimize a growing satellite fleet from Long Beach, CA. You will coordinate cross‑functional teams across design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, and GNC to ensure safe, reliable operations and high mission success rates.

You will define automation strategies, validate requirements, and own interfaces and CONOPS.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field.
• 12+ years of direct experience in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, or related operations.
• 5+ years of leading teams through spacecraft missions or aerospace projects.
• Experience in mission operations roles on-console or operator-in-the-loop.
• 5+ years of software development experience (Python/Ruby/C/C++/high-level languages).
• Active U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Set the technical direction for mission operations and plan staff workload.
• Influence spacecraft/ground architecture for safe, efficient, autonomous operations.
• Own mission ops requirements and validation for spacecraft missions.
• Define automation strategies and develop software-driven ops methods.
• Design and test flight software sequences and fault management.
• Develop ground software for long-duration operations and automation.
• Maintain mission ops tooling, CI, version control, and release discipline.

Skills

Leadership experience

Space mission operations

Security clearance

Software development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Cloud infrastructure

Job description

Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer to lead mission operations and optimize a growing satellite fleet from Long Beach, CA. You will coordinate cross‑functional teams across design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, and GNC to ensure safe, reliable operations and high mission success rates.

You will define automation strategies, validate requirements, and own interfaces and CONOPS.