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Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Harness Design Engineer to join its Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA. The Space Systems team designs and builds complete spacecraft, precision payloads, and critical subsystems including solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, and radios. This team has enabled over 1,700 missions for interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing, and national security initiatives, partnering with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.
In this role, you will design, develop, and integrate electrical harnesses for spacecraft. Key responsibilities include defining electrical interfaces, selecting components, specifying split locations and lengths, and generating comprehensive design documentation. You will collaborate closely with systems engineering, mechanical engineering, and assembly, integration, and test (AIT) teams to ensure seamless harness integration into spacecraft.
Specific duties include designing electrical harness systems with appropriate connector and backshell selection, wire selection, shielding, and routing; generating wiring diagrams, pinout tables, and interface definitions; interpreting system architecture and defining electrical interfaces with systems engineering; creating and maintaining Bills of Materials in the PLM tool; developing fabrication drawings using Capital Essentials, NX, and Teamcenter; supporting fabrication processes to ensure compliance with space-grade standards; defining and verifying harness acceptance criteria including electrical testing and inspection; performing electrical design and analysis to ensure performance, reliability, and manufacturability; supporting electrical system schematics; participating in design reviews; and troubleshooting electrical issues during fabrication, integration, and testing.
You will bring a Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or related engineering discipline and 5+ years of electrical engineering or avionics experience. Nice-to-have qualifications include a Master's or PhD in engineering, aerospace/defense industry experience, satellite development and operations background, proficiency in electrical engineering principles (power distribution, signal integrity, grounding, communication systems like RS-422, SPI, Ethernet, CAN bus), experience with harness design tools, and familiarity with industry standards.
