Business Development Engineer I

Rocket Lab Corporation•Littleton, CO

4d•$66,000 - $90,000•Onsite

About The Position

Rocket Lab is seeking an early-career Business Development Engineer I to support growth of its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) business and pursue opportunities supporting national hypersonic test and evaluation needs. Based at Rocket Lab’s Littleton, Colorado site, this role sits within the Global Launch Services Business Development team and works cross-functionally with Engineering, Mission Management, Production, Communications, and other teams. The position reports directly to the Director of Business Development, HASTE. The engineer will support opportunity identification, market and competitive analysis, capture and proposal activities, and development of mission concepts and business cases. The work includes coordinating technical responses, supporting business development tracking and forecasting, maintaining customer-facing materials and documentation, and contributing to planning and agreements related to launch services.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or another technical discipline.
Professional or internship experience in an engineering role within the aerospace, defense, or national security industries.
U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements.
Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience or academic exposure to the design, manufacturing, integration, or testing of hypersonic systems, payloads, or flight vehicles.
Experience with hypersonic systems, flight testing, or launch vehicles.
Familiarity with hypersonic flight test, missile defense, suborbital launch, or related national security markets.
Experience working on fast-paced engineering programs with geographically distributed or cross-functional teams.
Master’s degree in aerospace engineering or a related engineering discipline, such as mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering.
Experience with Python scripting, trajectory generation, or trajectory analysis.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Curiosity and enthusiasm for aerospace, hypersonics, and national security applications.
Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently when needed.
Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and colleagues with diverse technical backgrounds and expertise.
Ability to understand complex technical concepts and communicate them clearly and concisely to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

Draft proposals for new business opportunities in collaboration with Business Development and Engineering teams.
Track opportunities, analyze pipeline activity, and forecast demand for HASTE capabilities.
Coordinate with Engineering to assess mission requirements and develop timely technical responses to HASTE capability inquiries.
Work with Production and Engineering to establish realistic NRE timelines and launch dates for future missions.
Maintain and improve HASTE marketing materials, data sheets, and user guides with Communications and Business Development.
Partner with Engineering to identify and address technical gaps and improve and standardize customer-facing technical documentation.
Use internal tools, including Salesforce, to track leads, opportunities, and proposals and support reporting and KPI development.
Support activities related to launch service agreements, technical assistance agreements, and non-disclosure agreements, and create, track, and prioritize Jira tickets.
Build and maintain knowledge of suborbital launch and hypersonic test markets, competitive capabilities, customer demand, and emerging trends to support sales forecasting, pricing strategy, business planning, and HASTE product development.