Principal Integration & Test Engineer

Rocket Lab Corporation • Tucson, AZ

1d

About The Position

Rocket Lab Optical Systems develops mission-critical space-domain and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance solutions for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers. The division builds on more than 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems innovation to deliver sensing solutions for space, terrestrial, and airborne environments.

The Principal Integration & Test Engineer, based in Tucson, Arizona, will lead hands-on integration, alignment, calibration, and verification of advanced EO/IR payloads supporting national defense space missions. The work includes optical bench setup, metrology, environmental test readiness, and performance validation. The engineer will work closely with Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, and AIT teams and support customer reviews and technical briefings.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• 12 or more years of experience in integration and test of complex systems.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• Experience in optical system integration, test, or verification.
• Hands-on experience with optical alignment, metrology, interferometry, and imaging-system characterization.
• Familiarity with optical benches, cleanroom practices, contamination control, and environmental testing.
• Strong data analysis, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with EO/IR payloads, infrared focal planes, or space-based sensor systems.
• Experience writing alignment procedures, test scripts, and verification plans.
• Experience with automated test equipment or optical STE.
• Active TS/SCI U.S. Government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead integration, alignment, calibration, and verification activities for advanced EO/IR optical payloads used in spaceborne sensor systems.
• Perform optical integration tasks, including optical bench setup, alignment, metrology, and environmental test readiness.
• Develop and refine test procedures, optical characterization methods, and performance-validation processes.
• Support thermal vacuum (TVAC), vibration, and shock environmental tests; monitor optical performance and ensure compliance with mission requirements.
• Resolve integration issues, test anomalies, and optical performance deviations.
• Collaborate with Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, and AIT teams to achieve optical-mechanical-electrical integration.
• Support customer reviews, data packages, and technical briefings.
• Identify improvements to alignment methods, test tooling, and data-analysis workflows.

What This Job Offers

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