Senior Technical Program Manager — Satellite Production

Rocket Lab USA; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock purchase program

Medical plans

Dental & vision coverage

Paid vacation

Parental leave

401(k) with company match

Employee discounts

Job summary

Rocket Lab USA, based in Long Beach, CA, seeks a Senior Technical Program Manager I to own high-volume satellite production from prototype to flight, managing rate, yield, and cost. This high-ownership role leads a team through architecture, manufacturing, and supply chain decisions to deliver on aggressive schedules.

You will influence the technical roadmap, work with Chief Engineers, and drive improvements across manufacturing and test to enable scalable constellation production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline.
• 5+ years of aerospace program management experience.
• Proven track record of owning a technical program end-to-end and delivering under pressure.
• Evidence moving hardware and software from prototype to high-rate production with quantified gains.
• Understanding takt time, line-of-balance, design-for-manufacturing, and learning-curve economics.
• Experience identifying tooling, supply-chain, or yield risk and neutralizing it.
• U.S. citizenship with ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-volume satellite production programs from prototype through full-rate production.
• Coordinate architecture decisions with Chief Engineers and cross-functional teams.
• Build a culture that mentors leaders and encourages bold decisions.
• Manage high-stakes subcontracts and strategic suppliers.
• Align cross-functional teams to remove roadblocks and maintain speed and quality.
• Partner with BD & Strategy on proposals and technical narratives.

Skills

Aerospace PM

Technical ownership

DTM/DFM sensibility

Takt time/LOB

Tooling risk mgmt

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ERP/MRP

Job description

Rocket Lab USA, based in Long Beach, CA, seeks a Senior Technical Program Manager I to own high-volume satellite production from prototype to flight, managing rate, yield, and cost. This high-ownership role leads a team through architecture, manufacturing, and supply chain decisions to deliver on aggressive schedules.

You will influence the technical roadmap, work with Chief Engineers, and drive improvements across manufacturing and test to enable scalable constellation production.