Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Avionics & Test
About The Position
Rocket Lab is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Avionics & Test based at its headquarters in Long Beach, California. The role is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining manufacturing processes for avionics components and assemblies used across company programs. The engineer supports the Senior Manufacturing Engineering Manager and works with Avionics and Space Systems, Production, Test, and Design organizations. The position also prepares deliverables for internal leadership, the board of directors, and investors. This is a technical leadership role involving engineer development, hiring, team goals, and continuous improvement. The role contributes manufacturing and test expertise to design reviews, oversees new product and revision introductions, develops manufacturing methods and factory layouts, commissions equipment and production facilities, and leads structured problem-solving and lean improvement efforts.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, preferably Electrical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, or Mechanical Engineering.
- At least 5 years of experience in a manufacturing environment.
- Personnel leadership experience.
- Strong working knowledge of EEE piece parts, PCB, PCBA, electromechanical assembly, tooling, test, and quality techniques.
- Extensive experience applying fundamentals of electronic circuits, design principles, and manufacturing techniques to solve component issues in a fast-paced environment.
Nice To Haves
- Advanced engineering degree, preferably in Electrical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, or Mechanical Engineering.
- At least 8 years of experience in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience with environmental acceptance or production acceptance testing, such as vibration, shock, thermal, and vacuum testing.
- Understanding of instrumentation, interfaces, and sensors, including power supplies, oscilloscopes, serial devices, switch topologies, accelerometers, thermocouples, RTDs, and 4-20mA sensors.
- Experience designing, implementing, and supporting a production line or build area.
- Experience transitioning products from design to production as part of a cross-functional team in a fast-paced, iterative design environment.
- Demonstrated experience with DFMEA, PFMEA, Fault Tree Analysis, Pareto analysis, and root cause and corrective action.
Responsibilities
- Coach, mentor, and develop engineers.
- Conduct weekly, quarterly, and yearly reviews with direct employees.
- Interview and hire candidates for new roles.
- Create team goals and metrics to drive continuous improvement projects.
- Lead and organize meetings as needed to drive project completion.
- Contribute to design reviews as an expert in design for manufacture, design for test, productivity, supplier capability assessments, and quality control.
- Oversee the introduction and implementation of new products and product revisions.
- Perform initial Value Stream Mapping exercises, develop Method of Manufacture plans, and design cells.
- Define and implement factory layouts, select equipment, and conduct FAT, SAT, and production commissioning.
- Justify capital and facilities investments and manage and implement projects.
- Lead problem containment and structured root cause and corrective action investigations.
- Lead continuous improvement in the assigned area using lean tools and techniques such as 5S.
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 and vision coverage.
- Paid vacation and sick time.
- 11 paid holidays.
- Flexible spending and dependent care accounts.
- Paid parental leave.
- Disability and 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.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
