Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer — Secret Clearance

Rocket Lab Corporation; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 198,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab, based in Long Beach, CA, is seeking a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to perform tracking, navigation, maneuver, trajectory planning, and collision avoidance for Earth-orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions as part of a cross-disciplinary team.

You will solve complex problems under time pressure, interfacing with flight software and GNC teams, and contributing to simulation tools and mission readiness reviews. A Secret clearance and US citizenship are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Space Systems, or Software Engineering, or an equivalent Engineering or Applied Physics degree.
• 5+ years of experience in mission design, flight dynamics.
• Understanding of orbital mechanics, Orbit determination theory.
• Mission analysis with STK, Astrogator, GMAT, Monte, Copernicus, or equivalent.
• Git version control, or an equivalent version control system.
• Jira software project management or equivalent.
• Active Secret clearance, with ability to obtain TS/SCI
• U.S. citizenship is required, due to program requirements

Responsibilities

• Develop and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft trajectories, including ascent, orbit insertion, and orbital maneuvers
• Perform orbital propagation, rendezvous planning, and station-keeping analysis for spacecraft operations
• Support mission design including launch window analysis, delta-V budgets, and contingency planning
• Interface with flight software and GNC teams to validate and optimize guidance profiles
• Generate and deliver trajectory data products and flight dynamics support for mission readiness reviews
• Contribute to development of in-house simulation tools and flight dynamics infrastructure
• Support real-time mission operations including anomaly response and post-launch data analysis

Skills

Flight dynamics

Orbital mechanics

Mission design

Team collaboration

Time pressure management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Space Systems/Software Engineering or equivalent

Master’s degree (nice to have)

Tools

Git

Jira

Job description

Rocket Lab, based in Long Beach, CA, is seeking a Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer I to perform tracking, navigation, maneuver, trajectory planning, and collision avoidance for Earth-orbiting, lunar, and interplanetary missions as part of a cross-disciplinary team.

You will solve complex problems under time pressure, interfacing with flight software and GNC teams, and contributing to simulation tools and mission readiness reviews. A Secret clearance and US citizenship are required.