Harness Design Engineer II

Rocket Lab • Long Beach, CA

7d • Onsite

About The Position

Rocket Lab is seeking a Harness Design Engineer II for its Space Systems team, based at its global headquarters in Long Beach, California. The role focuses on designing electrical harnesses for spacecraft, including organizing interfaces, selecting components, specifying split locations and lengths, and producing design documentation that enables the spacecraft engineering team to create accurate CAD models. The engineer will also assist with electrical engineering activities for spacecraft and Space Systems components, including circuit design, analysis, prototyping, and testing alongside avionics designers.

The position combines harness design responsibilities with avionics engineering work. It includes creating and maintaining harness bills of materials in the product lifecycle management tool, preparing electrical system and harness documentation, developing avionics test plans, evaluating circuits, and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams on electronic assemblies for satellite and spacecraft programs. The engineer also represents the avionics electrical engineering team in internal design and customer-facing reviews.

The role requires a bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline and at least two years of electrical engineering or avionics experience. U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements. The position may involve prolonged sitting, standing, walking, and computer work, as well as occasional exposure to moderate noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.

Rocket Lab offers competitive base pay and company stock. The California base pay range is $108,000–$162,000, with level and salary determined based on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage; paid vacation and sick time; paid holidays; flexible spending and dependent care accounts; paid parental leave; disability and life insurance; and a 401(k) retirement plan with company match. Additional benefits and perks include an Employee Stock Purchase Program, subsidized EV charging, onsite fitness centers where available, discounted gym memberships, snacks and beverages, an employee merchandise discount, and other employee discounts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or another engineering discipline.
• At least 2 years of electrical engineering or avionics experience.
• U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or PhD in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or another engineering discipline.
• Experience in the aerospace or defense industry.
• Experience supporting satellite development programs and satellite operations.
• Thorough understanding of the space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics.
• Experience with LT Spice, Altium, and/or the Siemens software suite, such as Teamcenter.
• Experience with requirement management tools such as JAMA.
• Experience testing electrical subsystems and assemblies, including thermal vacuum, random vibration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing.
• Proficiency in electronics principles and electrical systems, including power electronics, communication systems such as RS-422, SPI, Ethernet, and CAN bus, signal integrity, and grounding.
• Proficiency with instrumentation, interfaces, and sensors, including power supplies, oscilloscopes, serial devices, accelerometers, thermocouples, RTDs, and 4–20 mA sensors.
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment with competing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Perform or support harness design tasks, including harness layout, connector and backshell selection, wire selection, and shielding for spacecraft.
• Generate pinout tables for harness connectors at both ends of assemblies based on spacecraft interconnect diagrams.
• Create and maintain harness bills of materials in the product lifecycle management (PLM) tool.
• Assist in creating documentation for electrical system schematics and harness designs.
• Develop test plans and procedures for avionics subsystems and components.
• Analyze and evaluate spacecraft avionics circuits to optimize performance, reliability, and manufacturability.
• Participate in internal design and customer-facing review meetings as a representative of the avionics electrical engineering team.
• Work with multidisciplinary teams to assist in designing electronic assemblies for satellite and spacecraft programs.
• Assist avionics designers with circuit design, analysis, prototyping, and testing.

Benefits

• Company stock as part of total compensation.
• Employee Stock Purchase Program with a 15% discount on company stock.
• Medical plans, including HMO, PPO, and a zero-cost HDHP option with a significant HSA company contribution.
• Dental coverage.
• Vision coverage.
• Paid vacation and sick time.
• 11 paid holidays.
• Flexible spending and dependent care accounts.
• Paid parental leave.
• Disability insurance.
• Life insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Subsidized EV charging.
• Onsite fitness centers where available.
• Discounted gym memberships.
• Complimentary snacks and beverages.
• 50% employee discount on the company merchandise store.
• Other employee discounts.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level