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Rocket Lab is seeking a Spacecraft Propulsion Systems Engineer II 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 across the Space Systems division.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own development of new or existing propulsion products and systems, acting as technical lead guiding end-to-end development
- Perform conceptual and detailed performance calculations, systems modeling, analysis, and design
- Gather, define, and manage requirements; lead systems engineering activities within the team
- Plan, set up, execute, and analyze test data for propulsion systems
- Communicate with internal and external stakeholders on technical progress and decisions
- Apply technical risk-based decision-making to solve engineering challenges
- Manage project schedules, prioritize work, task engineers and technicians, and report status to leadership
- Mentor and coach team members on technical and professional development
- Establish and maintain excellence standards through documentation, training, and peer review
- Contribute to engineering process development and documentation at Rocket Lab
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering discipline
- 2+ years of experience in propulsion system development or similar high-performance field
- US citizenship (required due to program requirements)
- Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance
Desirable experience includes propulsion system modeling (Amesim, EcosimPro, Simulink), storable propellants (electrical and chemical), end-to-end development processes, systems engineering V methodology, CAD (NX preferred), GD&T, PLM software (Teamcenter preferred), data acquisition systems, and flight hardware testing.
