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Salary: USD 134,300 - 201,350 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Program Manager II to serve as the program authority for a next-generation national security mission platform based at their Long Beach headquarters. This is a high-ownership role where you will own the technical roadmap and all major programmatic decisions from prototype through flight qualification and into responsive production.
Key Responsibilities:
- Command the full lifecycle of highly maneuverable, time-critical mission platforms from blank-sheet concept through qualification, responsive production, and flight operations
- Lead multiple active programs simultaneously and make sound architectural decisions with Chief Engineers on closed-loop guidance and control, on-board autonomy, and propulsion systems
- Build and develop an engineering culture where strong people take smart risks and the best idea wins; coach and develop the next generation of program and team leaders
- Own program P&L on a Firm Fixed Price basis: build accurate forecasts, hit revenue and margin milestones, prepare credible budgets, and make defensible Make/Buy decisions
- Manage high-stakes subcontracts and suppliers as strategic partners, protecting schedule and margin
- Synchronize cross-functional teams across hardware, software, GNC, and mission assurance to clear roadblocks and maintain speed and quality
- Serve as primary point of contact for assigned U.S. Government national security customers and partner with Business Development and Strategy on proposals and technical narratives
The role involves immersing yourself in the operational realities of the warfighter, translating their hardest problems into concrete technical milestones, and becoming the person the entire program depends on.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline
- 8+ years of experience in the aerospace/space industry
- 5+ years of technical program management experience
- Depth in at least one of the following domains: prototype-to-flight transition (proven record of taking integrated hardware/software systems from early prototypes to fully qualified, flight-ready platforms); EO/IR and optical payloads (understanding of EO/IR sensing, optical payload architectures, or focal plane arrays); production engineering (familiarity with takt time, line-of-balance, design-for-manufacturing principles, and learning-curve economics); manufacturing risk reduction (experience identifying tooling, supply-chain, or yield risks and neutralizing them before they impact throughput); or advanced sensing and comms (understanding of RADAR, SAR, or advanced communication system architectures)
- Experience identifying technical, schedule, or supply-chain risk and neutralizing it before it impacts the mission
- Active TS/SCI clearance (required)
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or eligible to obtain required ITAR authorizations
Nice-to-Have Qualifications:
- Production velocity playbook for transitioning low-volume prototypes into responsive production
- Deep experience navigating National Security Space (NSS) and time-critical mission sets
- Demonstrated success negotiating, capturing, and executing large U.S. Government contracts
- Master's degree in engineering or related field
- Systems engineering fluency and proficiency with Jira, Confluence, and ERP systems
