Director, Radar Payload

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 at Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA, we are looking for a Director, Radar Payload who will be responsible for leading the development of advanced radar payloads including SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and space-based radar systems. You will oversee the design, integration, and testing of radar payload subsystems and lead a team of RF engineers. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in radar system development, SAR processing, spaceborne radar missions, and payload integration, and will thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

System Leadership & Development

• Lead the end-to-end development of space-based radar payload systems including architecture design, prototyping, integration, test, and flight development – Ensure key design decisions and developments are in alignment with product / system needs
• Define and maintain radar payload requirements specifications and performance metrics considering orbital parameters and mission constraints
• Conduct radar system design trades in support of new business proposals and mission architectures including orbit selection and spacecraft impacts
• Drive key design decisions for waveform design, antenna architecture, and signal processing chains optimized for space-based operations
• Lead analyses including radar equation modeling for various orbits, clutter analysis, SNR, ambiguity resolution, and Doppler centroid variations
• Oversee the development of radar calibration procedures and image quality assessment methodologies for spaceborne systems
• Direct the integration of radar payloads with spacecraft bus systems including power budgets, thermal management, structural interfaces, and data handling architectures
• Lead mission planning activities including ground track analysis, access time optimization, and coverage requirements
• Lead the development of test plans, procedures, and RF/radar test campaigns

Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to radar and RF engineering teams
• Lead multidisciplinary teams for radar efforts including RF, digital, mechanical, thermal, structural, and software engineers
• Drive innovation in space-based radar payload design and performance optimization
• Support the development of GSE, calibration targets, and production automation
• Develop product documentation including ICDs, Con Ops, and User Manuals
• Guide spacecraft-level design decisions to optimize radar payload…