Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer — Automation

Rocketlab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)

Stock equity

Onsite fitness centers

Snacks and beverages

50% merch discount

Job summary

Rocket Lab's Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I/II to ensure health, safety, and optimal performance of a growing satellite fleet while meeting mission objectives for commercial and government customers.

You will work with design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, GNC, and ground software teams to improve space asset operations and reliability across diverse missions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering is required.
• 5+ years in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, or related areas.
• Understanding of key spacecraft subsystems such as attitude control, power, comms, ODT/DOH, and thermal control.
• Software development experience in Python/Ruby/C/C++ or similar.
• Ability to obtain US security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Leverage automation to operate spacecraft and enable efficient mission execution.
• Design, develop and test ground software for long-term space operations.
• Design, develop and test flight software sequences and fault management.
• Maintain continuous integration and testing of operational code.
• Support AIT across multiple spacecraft tests and deployments.
• Coordinate across engineering teams in Auckland, Long Beach, and other sites.
• Perform requirements validation and verification for subsystems and missions.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Spacecraft operations

Ground systems

Satellite subsystems

Space mission design

Software development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

GIT

CI/CD

Cloud infrastructure

Job description

Rocket Lab's Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer I/II to ensure health, safety, and optimal performance of a growing satellite fleet while meeting mission objectives for commercial and government customers.

You will work with design, AIT, flight software, propulsion, GNC, and ground software teams to improve space asset operations and reliability across diverse missions.