Lead Spacecraft Operations Engineer — Mission Ops, Secret

Rocket Lab Corporation; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock equity

Employee stock purchase program

Health plans

Dental & vision

Paid vacation

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Rocket Lab Corporation is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer in Long Beach, CA, to lead and optimize a growing fleet of satellites. You will work across design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, GNC, and ground software teams to ensure health, safety, and mission success for both commercial and government customers.

You will guide commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potential re-entry phases, leveraging in-house products and cross-team collaboration; a strong

Qualifications

• 12+ years in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, or spacecraft operations.
• 5+ years leading teams of engineers through spacecraft missions or aerospace projects.
• Experience in mission operations on-console or operator-in-the-loop.
• Secret US security clearance required.
• 5+ years of software development experience (Python/Ruby/C/C++).

Responsibilities

• Lead mission operations technical direction and prioritization.
• Define automation strategies for ops workflows and data analysis.
• Own mission operations requirements and verification for missions.
• Develop and test flight software sequences and telemetry configurations.
• Architect ground software for long-duration operations and automation frameworks.
• Coordinate interfaces, CONOPS, and operational design documents.

Skills

Mission ops lead

Team leadership

Software development

Python/C/C++

Spacecraft subsystems

Security clearance

Jira

Agile

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s or PhD (nice to have)

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Cloud infrastructure

SIL testing

HIL testing

Job description

Rocket Lab Corporation is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer in Long Beach, CA, to lead and optimize a growing fleet of satellites. You will work across design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, GNC, and ground software teams to ensure health, safety, and mission success for both commercial and government customers.

You will guide commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potential re-entry phases, leveraging in-house products and cross-team collaboration; a strong