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Salary: USD 82,000 - 123,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Spacecraft Propulsion Components Engineer I to join the propulsion engineering team in Long Beach, CA. You will own system-level and component-level development of space systems propulsion and fluidic systems, supporting the Space Systems division on cutting-edge programs for civil, commercial, and defense customers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own development of new or existing propulsion products and systems, acting as technical lead to guide the team through the end-to-end development process
- Perform conceptual and detailed mechanical design in CAD for propulsion system components, including performance calculations and analysis
- Review and approve drawings, 3D PMI, reports, and specifications from other engineers
- Plan, set up, instrument, execute, and analyze test data for propulsion systems
- Communicate with internal and external project stakeholders
- Make technical risk-based decisions to identify optimal engineering solutions
- Manage project schedules, identify priorities, task other engineers and technicians, and communicate status to leadership
- Mentor and coach team members on technical and professional development
- Define and maintain standards of excellence through documentation, training, and review of others' work
- Contribute to engineering process development and documentation at Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab's Space Systems team has enabled over 1,700 missions, including interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing, and national security initiatives. The team has built spacecraft and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, working with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
- Experience in propulsion system development or other high-performance field
- US citizenship required due to program requirements
- Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance
Desirable qualifications:
- Passion for engineering with a curious mindset and willingness to learn
- Detailed mechanical design experience using NX (preferred) or equivalent CAD software and PLM software such as Teamcenter or Windchill
- Comfort working with high levels of ambiguity
- Ability to make decisions using engineering principles, literature, standards, risk assessments, test data, and physics-based models
- Experience with propulsion systems using storable propellants (electrical and chemical)
- Track record of design reviews and approving release of flight parts and qualification reports
- Project planning and scheduling skills with ability to manage delivery against plans
- Experience developing requirements and verification sets, writing test plans, performing testing, and writing test reports
- End-to-end development process experience including requirements gathering, detailed design, qualification, production, and acceptance testing
- Python proficiency for data manipulation and post-processing
- Demonstrated hands-on engineering skills inside or outside the workplace
- Hands-on integration and testing experience, ideally with NI equipment and software
- GD&T and engineering drawing experience
- National Instruments data acquisition systems experience
- Flight hardware testing and troubleshooting experience
- Master's or PhD in engineering
