Mission Operations Lead — Spacecraft Systems

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grant

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Top-tier medical plans

Dental & Vision

Paid vacation and holidays

401(k) with company match

Stock merchandise discounts

Job summary

Rocket Lab USA in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer to lead mission operations for a growing fleet of satellites, supporting diverse missions for commercial and government customers.

You will own operations requirements, define automation, and coordinate with design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, and ground software teams to ensure safe, reliable, and scalable operations, with opportunities to work across NZ and USA engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related technical field.
• 12+ years in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, or related areas.
• 5+ years leading teams of engineers through spacecraft missions or aerospace projects.
• Experience in missions operations with on-console or operator-in-the-loop roles.
• Deep understanding of ADCS, EPS, communications, C&DH, TCS, propulsion, FDIR.
• Knowledge of orbital mechanics and space environment.
• 5+ years of software development in Python, C/C++, or similar.
• Active U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as mission operations lead: set technical direction and prioritise staff work.
• Influence spacecraft and ground architecture for operability and safety.
• Own mission ops requirements and lead validation for missions.
• Define automation strategy and software-driven operations for testing.
• Design and test flight software sequences and FDIR configurations.
• Develop ground software and automation frameworks for long-duration ops.
• Maintain mission ops tooling, CI, version control, and releases.
• Create interface specs, CONOPS, contingency procedures, and docs.
• Lead validation against simulations, flatsat, HITL, SIL, and digital twins.
• Coordinate with NZ and US teams, present at reviews and gates.

Skills

Software development

Python

C/C++

Space systems know-how

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Cloud infrastructure

Job description

Rocket Lab USA in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer to lead mission operations for a growing fleet of satellites, supporting diverse missions for commercial and government customers.

You will own operations requirements, define automation, and coordinate with design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, and ground software teams to ensure safe, reliable, and scalable operations, with opportunities to work across NZ and USA engineering teams.