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Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Systems 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, serving civil, commercial, and defense customers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning development of new or existing propulsion products/systems as technical lead
- Performing conceptual and detailed performance calculations, systems modeling, analysis, and design
- Gathering, defining, and managing technical requirements
- Leading systems engineering activities and providing technical guidance to team members
- Planning and executing tests, including instrumentation setup and data analysis
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders
- Making technical risk-based decisions to identify optimal engineering solutions
- Managing project schedules, prioritizing work, tasking engineers and technicians, and reporting status
- Mentoring and coaching team members on technical and professional development
- Establishing and maintaining excellence standards through documentation, training, and peer review
- Contributing to engineering process development and documentation
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, mechatronics, or related engineering discipline
- 5+ years of propulsion system development or high-performance field experience
- US citizenship (required for program compliance)
- Expertise in propulsion system modeling, static/transient analysis, and validation using tools like Amesim, EcosimPro, Simulink, or Simscape
- End-to-end development process experience (requirements through acceptance testing)
- Systems Engineering V methodology and risk-based decision-making experience
- Experience with storable propellants (electrical and chemical systems)
Desirable qualifications include hands-on engineering skills, comfort with ambiguity, Python proficiency for data analysis, NX CAD experience, and Jama requirements management familiarity.
