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Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Components Engineer to join the propulsion engineering team in Long Beach, CA. You will own system-level and component-level development of spacecraft propulsion and fluidic systems supporting civil, commercial, and defense customers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning end-to-end development of new or existing propulsion products and systems, acting as technical lead
- Performing conceptual and detailed mechanical design in CAD (NX preferred) with performance calculations and analysis
- Reviewing and approving engineering drawings, 3D PMI, reports, and specifications from team members
- Planning and executing propulsion system tests, including instrumentation setup and data analysis
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders on technical progress and decisions
- Making technical risk-based decisions to solve engineering challenges
- Managing project schedules, prioritizing work, tasking engineers and technicians, and reporting status to leadership
- Mentoring and coaching team members on technical and professional development
- Establishing and maintaining engineering excellence standards through documentation, training, and review
- Contributing to Rocket Lab's engineering process development and documentation
Required qualifications:
- 5+ years of propulsion system development or equivalent high-performance engineering experience
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, mechatronics, or related engineering discipline
- Proficiency with NX or equivalent CAD software and PLM systems (Teamcenter, Windchill)
- Proven track record of design reviews and flight hardware release approvals
- Experience with complete development lifecycle: requirements, design, qualification, production, acceptance testing
- Hands-on integration and testing experience, ideally with NI equipment
- Experience with storable propellants (electrical and chemical propulsion systems)
- US citizenship and willingness to obtain security clearance (required for program)
- Strong communication and teamwork skills
Desirable qualifications include passion for engineering, comfort with ambiguity, technical planning and scheduling skills, requirements and verification development, Python for data analysis, hands-on engineering experience, GD&T expertise, and engineering drawing proficiency.
