Space Systems Manufacturing Lead — Build Rockets at Speed

Rocket Lab Corporation; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company equity

401(k) match

Medical benefits

Paid vacation & leave

Onsite gym

EV charging stations

Discounted stock purchase

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Space Systems to drive the design and optimization of manufacturing processes for our satellites and space systems. You will lead cross-functional teams, develop manufacturability improvements, and scale production for missions.

The role emphasizes feasibility studies, factory setup, process validation, and continuous improvement, with leadership responsibilities and collaboration with Design Engineering to ensure robust,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or similar.
• 5+ years of technical experience in a Manufacturing, Production, or Process Engineering environment.
• Hands-on experience identifying and solving systemic multifaceted problems in complex manufacturing systems.
• Ability to deliver multiple complex assignments with autonomy.
• Ability to coach/mentor others to raise the bar across multiple teams.
• Detailed technical knowledge in complex manufacturing processes.
• Personnel leadership experience.
• Capital and facilities justification, project management and implementation.
• Perform periodic reviews with direct employees.
• Interview and hire candidates to fill new roles.
• Create team goals and metrics to drive continuous improvement projects.

Responsibilities

• Prepare feasibility studies and conduct manufacturing technology R&D projects.
• Partner with Design Engineering to incorporate Design for Manufacture for robustness at scale.
• Engineer and deliver factories: design, procure, install, validate assembly, test and verification processes.
• Support development builds to uncover early learnings and speed ramp-up.
• Own production lines to remove blockers and improve yield and build efficiency.
• Triage and diagnose failures with root cause analysis and risk mitigation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve complex issues.
• Drive process improvements across manufacturing, test and integration.
• Contribute to change management and risk assessment of design/process changes.
• Support business systems and process improvements to increase organizational effectiveness.

Skills

Technical experience

Problem solving

Autonomy

Mentoring

Manufacturing knowledge

Leadership

Project management

Performance reviews

Interviewing hires

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or similar

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Space Systems to drive the design and optimization of manufacturing processes for our satellites and space systems. You will lead cross-functional teams, develop manufacturability improvements, and scale production for missions.

The role emphasizes feasibility studies, factory setup, process validation, and continuous improvement, with leadership responsibilities and collaboration with Design Engineering to ensure robust,