Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Lead | Systems Engineering

Rocketlab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top tier medical HMO/PPO

Dental and vision coverage

401(k) with company match

3 weeks paid vacation

5 days sick leave per year

11 paid holidays

Employee stock purchase plan

Onsite gym

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Systems Engineer I with active Secret clearance to own propulsion system development and lead end‑to‑end programs for civil, commercial, and defense customers.

You’ll perform system modelling, requirements management, and risk‑based decision making, while mentoring teammates and shaping engineering processes. Competitive base pay and robust benefits accompany a dynamic space-vehicles team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (aerospace, mechanical, mechatronics, or other technical discipline).
• 5+ years of propulsion system development or other high-performance field experience.
• Active Secret clearance with TS/SCI eligibility.
• US citizenship is required, due to program requirements.
• Expertise in propulsion system modelling, static and transient analysis, and model validation using test data software (Amesim, EcosimPro, Simulink, or Simscape).
• Experience with end-to-end development: requirements, detailed design, qualification, production, and acceptance testing.
• Experience with propulsion systems utilizing different storable propellants, such as electrical and chemical.

Responsibilities

• Owning development of new or existing products or systems, acting as technical lead to guide team through end‑to‑end development process
• Conceptual and detailed performance calculations, systems modelling, analysis, and system designs
• Requirements gathering, definition, and management
• Systems engineering activities and leadership within the team
• Test planning, setup, instrumentation, execution, and data analysis
• Communicating with project stakeholders internal and external to the team
• Technical risk‑based decision making to the right/best solution when faced with an engineering challenge
• Project management including schedule building and maintenance, identifying top priority items, tasking of other engineers and technicians, and communication of status to leadership and other teams
• Mentorship and coaching of people within the team on technical and professional development
• Defining and maintaining standard of excellence for their team through documentation, training, coaching, and review of others’ work
• Contributing to engineering process development and documentation at Rocket Lab related to areas of experience

Skills

Propulsion modelling

Static/Transient analysis

End-to-end development

Systems engineering

Test data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

Amesim

EcosimPro

Simulink

Simscape

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Systems Engineer I with active Secret clearance to own propulsion system development and lead end‑to‑end programs for civil, commercial, and defense customers.

You’ll perform system modelling, requirements management, and risk‑based decision making, while mentoring teammates and shaping engineering processes. Competitive base pay and robust benefits accompany a dynamic space-vehicles team.