Senior Electric Propulsion Engineer II

SPACE SYSTEMS

Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine. Come shape the future with us.

At Rocket Lab, we’re not just launching rockets — we're building the future of space. Our Space Systems team builds everything from complete spacecraft, precision payloads to the components and subsystems that allow them to thrive in space, like solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, radios, and more.

Our Space Systems team has enabled more than 1,700 missions, ranging from interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing to national security and defense initiatives. The team has built spacecraft, payloads, and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, working with partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force. Whether it’s a single high-performance spacecraft, constellation, or the vertically integrated components that help them get to space — our world class Space Systems team is empowering some of the boldest and most ambitious space missions.

We’re currently seeking a Senior Electric Propulsion Engineer for our propulsion engineering team based out of Long Beach, CA. As an Electric Propulsion Engineer, you are responsible for system-level and component-level ownership of space systems propulsion and fluidic development. These teams support our Space Systems division, and lead cutting-edge programs for civil, commercial, and defense customers.

• Own development of new or existing products or systems, acting as technical lead to guide team through end-to-end development process
• Conceptualand detailed performancecalculations,systems modelling,analysis, and system designs
• Requirements gathering, definition, and management
• Systems engineering activities and leadership within the team
• Testplanning, setup, instrumentation, execution, and data analysis
• Communicate with project stakeholders internal and external to the team
• Technical risk-based decision makingtotheright/bestsolutionwhenfacedwithan engineering challenge
• Project management, including: schedule building and maintenance,identifyingtop priority items,tasking ofother engineers and technicians, and communication of status to leadership and other teams
• Mentor and coach people within the team on technical and professional development
• Define and maintainstandardofexcellencefortheirteam through documentation, training, coaching, and review of others’ work
• Contribute to engineering process developmentanddocumentationat Rocket Lab related to areas of experience

• 8+ years of experience in propulsion system development, or equivalent high-performance field
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, (aerospace, mechanical,mechatronics,or other technical engineering discipline)
• Expertise inpropulsion system modelling,static and transientanalysis, and model validation using test datausingsoftware such as Amesim, Ecosim Pro,Simulink, or Simscape
• Experience with end-to-end development processincludinggatheringrequirements,detailed design,qualification,production,and acceptance testing
• Strong grasp of all steps in the Systems Engineering V and risk-based decision making
• Experience working onelectricpropulsion systems
• U.S. citizenshipis required, due to program requirements
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance

• A genuine passion for engineering, curious mindset, and willingness to learn
• Comfortable working with high levels of ambiguity
• Makes decisions using basic engineering principles, available literature and standards, technical risk assessments, test data, and physics-based models
• Practice in identifying the necessary steps to achieve high level technical goals, scheduling them in a plan, and managing delivery againstthat plan
• Experience with Jama
• Capabilities using Python for data manipulation and post-processing
• Detailed mechanical…