Senior Mechanical Engineer

Rocket Lab; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab seeks a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead the development of the next generation of Wireless Optical Communication (WOC) terminals. This role demands expertise in mechanical system design, collaboration across teams, and offers the opportunity to tackle innovative challenges in a dynamic and high-impact environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years relevant work experience required.
• PhD in Mechanical Engineering or Physics is a plus.
• Hands-on experience with CNC and 3D printing is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Deliver mechanical foundations for new wireless optical communication technology.
• Solve thermo-mechanical challenges and provide production solutions.
• Drive testing for reliability and quality of outdoor equipment.

Skills

Expertise in CAD

Finite-element analysis

Thermal management

Problem solving

Education

MS degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

About the Team:

Born at X, Google's Moonshot Factory, Taara is on a mission to connect billions of people lacking abundant and affordable internet today by pioneering the way we use light to deliver faster, cheaper, more reliable connectivity. Lead the charge in bringing our groundbreaking wireless optical communication and photonics chip technologies to the world. Drive our growth story as we scale innovative solutions across the world. Join us to light the way for bridging the digital divide and illuminating the future.

About the Role:

Taara is seeking to fill a Senior Mechanical Engineer position with experience in the design, modeling, fabrication, and validation of mechanical systems for the next generation of Wireless Optical Communication (WOC) terminals.

Candidates should have experience in designing complex outdoor products from concept to volume production. The candidate will work closely across teams and support integration of silicon photonics, opto-mechanical assemblies, precision steering mechanisms and electrical circuitry. This is an exciting & dynamic technical leadership position where you will explore, pathfind and define key elements for our next generation WOC architecture options.

The position seeks highly-motivated individuals that enjoy working in a small, dynamic team environment, with a passion for solving challenging problems that can lead to high-impact advances in technology.

How you’ll make 10x impact

• Deliver the mechanical foundation for the next generation wireless optical communication technology by solving challenges in the environmental, materials, and thermal management disciplines

• Solve thermo-mechanical system and integrated circuit packaging challenges by providing production solutions

• Drive reliability and quality testing for Telcordia outdoor equipment including thermal, shock and vibration

• Provide input to the manufacturing team and partners to ramp up to production quantities

What you should have:

• MS degree (or higher) in Mechanical Engineering, with ≥ 8 years of relevant work experience

• Expertise in one of the mainstream 3D mechanical engineering CAD/Simulation software programs, preferably SolidWorks

• Expertise in finite-element analysis to evaluate thermally-induced stresses and structural modes

• Experience with volume manufacturing methods of mechanical parts and assemblies

It’d be great if you also had these:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering or Physics, with ≥ 12 years of relevant experience

• Hands-on practical experience with designing agile, light-weight, compact, and high-accuracy pointing mechanism

• Proficiency with maker skills: CNC, mill, lathe, 3D-printing

• Understanding and experience with opto-mechanical integration

• Experience with advanced thermal management systems (e.g. thermo-electric, and phase change materials)

• Familiarity with packaging of photonic integrated circuits (PICs)