Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Systems Engineer II - Secret Clearance

Rocket Lab•Long Beach, CA

22h•Onsite

About The Position

Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Systems Engineer II to join its propulsion engineering team in Long Beach, California. The role owns system-level and component-level development of spacecraft propulsion and fluidic systems supporting civil, commercial, and defense programs within the Space Systems division. The engineer leads product or system development from end to end, including performance calculations, modeling, analysis, design, requirements management, systems engineering, and testing. The role also includes project planning and status communication, risk-based technical decision-making, stakeholder coordination, mentoring, maintaining team engineering standards, and contributing to engineering processes and documentation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, such as aerospace, mechanical, mechatronics, or another technical discipline.
At least 8 years of experience in propulsion system development or another high-performance field.
Active Secret clearance and eligibility for TS/SCI.
U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements.
Expertise in propulsion system modeling, static and transient analysis, and model validation using test data, with software such as Amesim, EcosimPro, Simulink, or Simscape.
Experience with end-to-end development, including requirements gathering, detailed design, qualification, production, and acceptance testing.
Experience with all steps in the Systems Engineering V and risk-based decision-making.
Experience working on propulsion systems utilizing different storable propellants, such as electrical and chemical.

Nice To Haves

Genuine passion for engineering, a curious mindset, and willingness to learn.
Demonstrated hands-on engineering skills, inside or outside the workplace.
Comfort working with high levels of ambiguity.
Ability to make decisions using basic engineering principles, available literature and standards, technical risk assessments, test data, and physics-based models.
Practice identifying steps to achieve high-level technical goals, scheduling them in a plan, and managing delivery against that plan.
Experience with Jama.
Excellent communication skills and ability to work well within a team environment.
Python capabilities for data manipulation and post-processing.
Detailed mechanical design experience using NX (preferred) or equivalent industry-standard CAD software.
Experience with GD&T and engineering drawings.
Experience using Product Lifecycle Management software such as Teamcenter (preferred), Windchill, or similar.
Experience using National Instruments data acquisition systems.
Experience testing and troubleshooting flight hardware.
Master’s or PhD.

Responsibilities

Own development of new or existing products or systems and serve as technical lead throughout the end-to-end development process.
Perform conceptual and detailed performance calculations, systems modeling, analysis, and system design.
Gather, define, and manage requirements.
Conduct systems engineering activities and provide team leadership.
Plan, set up, instrument, and execute tests, and analyze test data.
Communicate with internal and external project stakeholders.
Make technical decisions using risk-based approaches to identify appropriate solutions to engineering challenges.
Manage projects, including building and maintaining schedules, prioritizing work, assigning tasks to engineers and technicians, and communicating status to leadership and other teams.
Mentor and coach team members in technical and professional development.
Define and maintain team standards through documentation, training, coaching, and review of others’ work.
Contribute to Rocket Lab engineering process development and documentation in areas of expertise.

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 company HSA 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.