Senior Systems Engineer - Spacecraft Design

About Rocket Lab

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.

Based out of Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA, the Senior Systems Engineer I – Spacecraft Design is responsible for leading the mechanical formulation of all new satellite systems, including structures, mechanisms, and satellite bus configurations to support the capture of new civil, national security, and commercial business.

You will manage the development and maintenance of mass and mechanical technical budgets, mechanical requirements definition, configuration trades, test planning and execution, and overall management of the mechanical systems engineering process, including validation of customer requirements. You will support the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy and the broader Space Systems Business Development organization, with deliverables required for internal leadership, board of directors, and investors.

• Lead Rocket Lab’s satellite mechanical engineering formulation supporting business development and new opportunity capture
• Develop high performance and lightweight satellite bus configurations, structures, and mechanisms for our customers
• Develop concepts and satellite configurations for high value science and interplanetary missions
• Define what mechanisms and deployment systems look like on a modern satellite system/bus
• Develop and maintain:
  • Mass and mechanical technical budgets for vehicle performance
  • Mechanical system requirements and verification techniques
  • Structural, mechanism, and packaging analyses across vehicle functions, including hand-calcs and FEA
  • Test methods and data analysis (structural, thermal, vibe)
• Lead and own the mechanical technical development of spacecraft missions from conceptual design through production, test, and operation
• Create and maintain product definition through CAD, production drawings, and test and operations procedures
• Assist with program and product management, including development schedules, vendors, and budgets
• Develop, in collaboration with team members, mechanical interface specifications, CONOPS definition, and other design documents

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering; or other technical discipline
• 5+ years of engineering experience in the aerospace industry
• Experience supporting satellite and/or spacecraft development programs
• Experience with CAD modeling and drawing
• US citizenship is required, due to program requirements