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Salary: USD 100,000 - 130,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems for missions ranging from interplanetary exploration to national security and defense. The Space Systems team has enabled over 1,700 missions and builds everything from complete spacecraft and precision payloads to components like solar panels, flight software, star trackers, and separation systems.
As Lead Manufacturing Engineer based in Silver Spring, Maryland, you will lead a team dedicated to transforming innovative spaceflight mechanism concepts—specifically separation systems—into manufacturable designs. You will play a critical role in designing, building, and optimizing the systems and processes that bring these ideas to life while driving continuous improvements for faster, better, smarter manufacturing.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead and manage a team of Manufacturing Engineers, providing mentorship, guidance, and performance management to achieve team and organizational goals
- Conduct feasibility studies and R&D projects to evaluate and implement advanced manufacturing technologies
- Partner with Product Development teams to incorporate Design for Manufacturing principles into separation systems, ensuring manufacturability at scale
- Design, procure, install, and validate production lines and factory systems for assembly, testing, and verification of spaceflight mechanisms
- Take engineering ownership of production lines to remove blockers, improve yield, and increase build efficiency
- Triage and diagnose production issues, conduct root cause analyses, and implement corrective actions to mitigate risks and ensure long-term reliability
- Drive continuous improvements across manufacturing and test operations
- Contribute to change management, assessing risk and impact of design and process changes
- Support business system and process improvements to enhance organizational effectiveness and operational efficiency
You must be detail-oriented, self-motivated, and capable of working both independently and collaboratively. The role involves troubleshooting complex production issues, leading cross-functional teams, and supporting organizational efficiencies through change management.
QUALIFICATIONS (Required):
- B.S. in Engineering
- 5+ years of relevant work experience in Manufacturing, Production, or Process Engineering
- Proven hands-on experience proactively identifying and solving complex multifaceted problems in manufacturing systems
- Demonstrated experience with designing, implementing, and supporting production lines
- Track record of successfully leading teams to achieve technical and operational goals
- Familiarity with typical aerospace mechanical fabrication techniques, materials, and surface finishes
- Demonstrated experience with DFMEA, PFMEA methodologies, Fault Tree Analysis, Pareto analysis, root cause and corrective action methodologies
QUALIFICATIONS (Nice to Have):
- 8+ years of experience in production or manufacturing engineering
- 1+ years managing or leading teams
- Experience with capital and facilities justification, project management, and implementation
- Experience transitioning products from design to production as part of a cross-functional team in a fast-paced, iterative design environment
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Ability to travel up to 10% of the year
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or eligible to obtain required ITAR authorizations from U.S. Department of State/Commerce (required for US office positions)
- Position may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, computer work, and occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas
