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Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Harness Design Engineer II to join its Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA. This role focuses on the design, development, and integration of electrical harnesses for spacecraft that support missions ranging from interplanetary exploration to national security initiatives.
You will be responsible for the complete harness engineering lifecycle: designing and developing electrical harness systems including connector and backshell selection, wire selection, shielding, and routing. You'll generate wiring diagrams, pinout tables, and interface definitions based on spacecraft interconnect diagrams, and collaborate with systems engineering to interpret system architecture and define electrical interfaces.
Key responsibilities include creating and maintaining Bills of Materials (BOMs) in the product lifecycle management (PLM) tool, developing fabrication drawings and documentation using tools such as Capital Essentials, NX, and Teamcenter, and supporting harness fabrication processes while ensuring compliance with space-grade standards. You'll define and verify harness acceptance criteria, including electrical testing and inspection, and work cross-functionally with systems engineering, mechanical engineering, and assembly, integration, and test (AIT) teams.
On the electrical engineering side, you'll perform electrical design and analysis to ensure harness systems meet performance, reliability, and manufacturability requirements, support electrical system schematics, participate in design reviews, and troubleshoot electrical issues during fabrication, integration, and testing.
Required qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or related engineering discipline, plus 8+ years of electrical engineering or avionics experience. Preferred 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), and familiarity with harness design tools and industry standards.
