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Salary: USD 116,800 - 160,600 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager I to lead high-volume satellite production for their Space Systems division. Based at their Long Beach headquarters, you will own rate, yield, unit cost, and strategic program decisions from prototype maturity through full-rate production. This is a high-ownership role focused on building hundreds of satellites on schedule, on cost, and with accelerated learning curves.
Key responsibilities include:
- Command the lifecycle of satellites from concept through qualification, full-rate production, and flight, while owning the technical roadmap that grows the team's core capabilities.
- Lead multiple active programs simultaneously, make architectural decisions with Chief Engineers, and navigate critical trade-offs in design-for-manufacturing, takt time, line-of-balance, and rate-readiness versus reliability.
- Build and develop a high-performing team culture where strong people take smart risks, the best ideas win regardless of source, and intelligent misses are treated as the cost of moving fast.
- Manage high-stakes subcontracts and suppliers as strategic partners, protecting schedule and margin.
- Synchronize cross-functional teams across manufacturing, supply chain, integration, and test to clear roadblocks and maintain speed and quality.
- Serve as primary point of contact for assigned commercial constellation operators and partner with Business Development & Strategy on proposals and technical narratives.
The role requires hands-on involvement in solving line-threatening problems and personally diving into technical challenges alongside the team.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline
- 5+ years of program management experience
- Demonstrated track record of owning a technical program, product, or team end-to-end and delivering under real pressure (hiring based on what you've shipped, not years logged)
- Evidence of moving real hardware and software from prototype toward high-rate production with quantified yield, throughput, and cost gains
- Understanding of takt time, line-of-balance, design-for-manufacturing, and learning-curve economics
- Experience identifying and neutralizing tooling, supply-chain, or yield risk before it impacts production
- U.S. citizenship with ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance
NICE-TO-HAVE QUALIFICATIONS:
- Proven playbook for transitioning low-volume prototypes into full-rate production without sacrificing mission reliability
- Deep experience scaling satellite, aerospace, or analogous complex hardware production at volume
- Repeatable record of reducing unit cost at rate without sacrificing reliability
- Master's degree in Engineering, Operations, or related field
- Fluency with Systems Engineering, trade studies, interface control, requirement integrity, and tools like Jira, Confluence, and ERP/MRP systems
- Multiple program cycles or 8+ years in aerospace/defense (though hardest thing shipped is weighted more heavily than tenure)
