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Salary: USD 162,000 - 270,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Combustion Devices Engineer to lead the development of combustion devices for the Archimedes engine, a 200,000 lbf powerplant operating in an ox-rich, staged combustion architecture for the Neutron medium-lift launch vehicle. This is a hands-on technical leadership role based at Rocket Lab's Long Beach headquarters.
You will own all aspects of combustion device development—preburners, main injectors, thrust chamber assemblies, and vacuum nozzles—from design and analysis through manufacturing, testing, and flight operations. This includes responsibility for high-cadence re-flights and iterative improvements.
Key responsibilities:
- Design, analyze, and conduct trade studies to meet programmatic targets
- Define requirements, test plans, and flight qualification strategies
- Collaborate with turbomachinery and engine systems teams to ensure seamless integration
- Partner with manufacturing and build engineers to optimize for manufacturability, cost, and quality
- Work with test and launch teams to interpret flight data and enable rapid iteration cycles
You will operate in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment where you help propel Neutron and expand human capabilities in space. The role requires deep technical expertise, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to drive decisions in a hardware-focused, iterative development culture.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent
- 12+ years of combustion device design experience
- In-depth knowledge of combustion and fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and structural mechanics
- Fundamental understanding of design principles and manufacturing methods
Nice-to-have qualifications:
- Master's or PhD
- Advanced proficiency in NX, ANSYS Mechanical, StarCCM, MATLAB, and GD&T
- Proficiency in specialized software: TDK, ROCCID, PERCORP, CEA, ROCETS
- Reacting flow CFD expertise
- High-speed data/video analysis in time and frequency domains
- Experience designing reusable, propulsively landing rocket engines
- Background in iterative, scrappy development environments
Note: This position requires prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, and computer work, with occasional exposure to moderate noise, dust, and fumes in production areas. US office candidates must be a US citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or eligible to obtain required authorizations under ITAR regulations.
