Senior Program Manager II - Laser Communications

Rocket Lab•Long Beach, CA

10d•Onsite

About The Position

Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Program Manager II to lead customer-facing optical communication terminal programs from award through qualification, rate production, delivery, and on-orbit checkout. Based at the company’s global headquarters in Long Beach, California, this role owns customer outcomes, including day-to-day relationships, delivery commitments, schedules, milestone and acceptance reviews, program risk, and overall program health. The program manager works with the Product team on configuration, pricing, and customer needs, and coordinates across engineering, production, operations, supply chain, business development, and customers in the United States and Europe. The role spans current-generation production and next-generation terminal variants. It includes protecting delivery profiles, identifying and resolving yield, supplier, and test-capacity risks, managing critical suppliers, overseeing program startup and baselining, qualification reviews, export and ITAR obligations, customer acceptance, and program closeout. The successful candidate will be a trusted customer point of contact, contribute to proposals and product decisions, and mentor colleagues and emerging program leaders. 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 stated California base pay range is $153,000–$229,500 USD; compensation depends on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physics, or Math.
Working understanding of free-space optical or RF communications, including link budgets, pointing, acquisition and tracking, modems and coding, and space or airborne environmental qualification.
At least 8 years of experience in space, aerospace, or photonics hardware programs, including multiple full program cycles.
Track record of leading a complex hardware program through delivery, managing customer needs, schedule, risk, and acceptance under pressure.
Evidence of moving hardware from prototype through qualification to rate-production delivery to customers.
Experience managing program cost, estimate at completion (EAC), and customer contract changes in partnership with finance and product teams on a program of meaningful scale.
Experience delivering hardware at rate to a demanding customer and maintaining customer trust through a difficult situation, such as a schedule slip, test failure, or contract change.
U.S. Person status required for ITAR/EAR compliance.
Ability to obtain a security clearance is preferred.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with optical inter-satellite links or optical ground or airborne terminals.
A proven approach to moving low-volume, hand-built optical or electro-optical hardware into high-rate production without sacrificing reliability.
Experience delivering to large commercial or defense constellation programs.
Experience serving as the primary customer interface for constellation operators or satellite primes, from kickoff through acceptance.
Experience leading program work across geographically dispersed sites, including export-control and dual-use compliance.
Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Optics/Photonics, Physics, or a related field.
Systems engineering familiarity, including trade studies, interface control, and requirement integrity, and use of Jira, Confluence, and ERP/MRP systems.
Use of AI tools in day-to-day program management, including schedule and risk analysis, status reporting, and customer communications.

Responsibilities

Lead terminal programs from award through qualification, production at rate, delivery, and on-orbit checkout across current-generation production and next-generation variants.
Maintain program plans and deliver on schedule, technical performance, and customer commitments.
Run multiple concurrent customer programs and work with Chief Engineers on link performance, data rate, SWaP, environmental qualification, and optical terminal interoperability.
Own each program’s delivery profile and identify and resolve yield, supplier, and test-capacity risks with Operations and the Product team.
Partner with Supply Chain to manage critical suppliers and maintain accountability for customer deliveries.
Manage program startup and baselining, milestone and qualification reviews, export and ITAR obligations with Trade Compliance, customer acceptance, and closeout across U.S. and European sites.
Serve as the trusted customer point of contact through milestone reviews, interoperability campaigns, acceptance, and delivery.
Partner with Business Development and Strategy on proposals and with the Product team on pricing and configuration; represent the voice of the customer in decisions.
Mentor colleagues, uphold customer-facing standards, and help develop future program leaders.

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 company HSA 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.
Employee discount on the company merchandise store and other employee discounts.