Senior Electrical Engineer I​/II

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company delivering responsive launch services, complete spacecraft design and manufacturing, payloads, satellite components, and more – with the goal of opening access space. The rockets and satellites we build and launch enable ambitious space missions globally, supporting scientific exploration, Earth observation, and technology demonstrations. Our Electron rocket is a highly utilized U.S. rocket and our Space Systems division designs and builds satellites, payloads, and components for missions with partners such as NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.

Our Space Systems team covers complete spacecraft, precision payloads, and subsystems like solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, radios, and more. We enable missions ranging from interplanetary exploration to national security and defense initiatives. Whether a single high-performance spacecraft, a constellation, or the vertically integrated components that get to space, our team supports bold space missions.

Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems division solves mission-critical space domain and ISR challenges for DoD and Intelligence Community customers. We aim to revolutionize the space-based payload market with innovative designs for space, terrestrial, and airborne environments. Based at our Optical Systems site in Tucson, Arizona, you will participate in the development and test of electrical systems/subsystems hardware for space payload programs. You will work with engineers from multiple disciplines and be involved in all aspects of electrical hardware development, from requirements definition through design, prototyping, fabrication, testing, and production.

You will have opportunities to develop optical systems that will be on-orbit. Join a driven team tackling challenging projects and making an impact on the future of space.

Please note:

this position can be hired at the Senior Electrical Engineer I or Senior Electrical Engineer II level.

• Develop PCBA requirements in collaboration with other engineering disciplines
• Schematic capture and PCB layout using Altium Designer
• PCBA design verification testing and system integration testing
• Circuit analysis, including power, tolerance, and reliability considerations
• Harness development, routing design and testing
• Production manufacturing support as needed

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other technical discipline
• 5+ years of electrical hardware design experience, including schematic capture and PCB layout
• Experience with analog and digital electronics design

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other technical discipline
• 8+ years of electrical hardware design experience, including schematic capture and PCB layout
• Experience with analog and digital electronics design

• Master’s or PhD in electrical or computer engineering or related field
• Proficiency with Altium Designer for schematic capture and layout of complex PCBs
• Proficiency with basic electronic lab equipment (power supplies, oscilloscopes, DMMs, signal generators, soldering irons)
• Knowledge of processors, FPGAs, switching power supplies, communications interfaces, and analog instrumentation
• Experience designing for space environments, including radiation impacts and mitigation
• Experience designing for high-reliability aerospace applications
• Experience designing rigid-flex PCBs and general electromechanical design
• Experience with FPGA design and embedded software development for ARM cores
• Proficiency performing circuit analyses in SPICE and Excel
• Proven ability to work in a dynamic environment with multiple priorities

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus
• Regularly required to…