Space Sensing & Domain Awareness Program Lead (EO/IR)

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 134,000 - 259,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grant

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Program Manager for Space Sensing & Domain Awareness (TS/SCI). You own the technical roadmap for EO/IR sensing payloads from concept to flight, managing a high-ownership program across the development lifecycle.

You will lead multiple active programs, make architectural decisions with Chief Engineers, and grow a high-performance team, balancing schedule, cost, and performance while protecting mission success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline.
• 8+ years aerospace program management experience.
• Owned a technical program end to end under pressure.
• Hardware and software moved from prototype to production.
• Experience with EO/IR sensing, optical payloads, or focal plane arrays.
• Experience identifying and neutralizing technical/schedule/supply-chain risks.
• Active TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Lifecycle: Build and lead the team that takes EO/IR sensing payloads from concept to flight and own the technical roadmap.
• Lead the Team of Teams: Run multiple programs, make architectural calls with Chief Engineers, manage trade-offs in pointing stability and jitter.
• Build the Bench: Develop a culture that backs bold decisions and learns from misses.
• Forge the Supply Chain: Manage high-stakes subcontracts and suppliers as strategic partners.
• Unblock Excellence: Synchronize cross-functional teams across optics, electronics, software, and data chains.
• Influence the Future: Be primary contact for US Government tracking customers and support proposals.

Skills

Program management

Leadership

Systems engineering

Risk management

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

TS/SCI clearance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ERP

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Program Manager for Space Sensing & Domain Awareness (TS/SCI). You own the technical roadmap for EO/IR sensing payloads from concept to flight, managing a high-ownership program across the development lifecycle.

You will lead multiple active programs, make architectural decisions with Chief Engineers, and grow a high-performance team, balancing schedule, cost, and performance while protecting mission success.