Senior DevOps Engineer I

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.

SPACE SYSTEMS  

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. 

SENIOR DEVOPS ENGINEER I 

Based out of Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA, we are looking to hire a Senior DevOps Engineer I. In this role you will build, operate, and improve the observability platform that gives our teams clear, actionable insight into the health and performance of mission-critical systems. This role sits within the DevSecOps organization and focuses on reliable, scalable telemetry collection, storage, visualization, and alerting across our environments.

This is a technical role for someone who enjoys making complex systems understandable and dependable. You will partner with Space Systems teams to improve monitoring coverage, alert quality, dashboard usability, and operational response. Your work will directly improve the reliability, performance, and security of software systems supporting space missions.

WHAT YOU’LL GET TO DO:

• Build, operate, and continuously improve the organization's observability stack, including Grafana, Grafana Mimir, kube-prometheus-stack, and Grafana Alloy.
• Design and maintain scalable metrics collection, ingestion, retention, and query patterns for Kubernetes and cloud-based workloads.
• Develop and maintain Grafana dashboards that provide actionable insights to engineering teams and leadership.
• Design, tune, and maintain alerting and notification workflows that reduce noise and enable timely, effective incident response.
• Partner with engineering teams to define meaningful service-level indicators, service-level objectives, and monitoring standards.
• Improve observability coverage by identifying telemetry gaps, analyzing trends, and implementing durable instrumentation and monitoring improvements.
• Integrate AWS CloudWatch and CloudTrail telemetry into the observability platform to support operational visibility, security monitoring, and troubleshooting.
• Manage observability infrastructure through version-controlled, automated deployments using Terraform, Git, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Drive continuous improvement through data-driven analysis of platform reliability, telemetry quality, dashboard adoption, and alert effectiveness.
• Troubleshoot complex monitoring, telemetry, and alerting issues across AWS, and GCP environments.
• Work with development teams through code reviews and integrated pipelines to ensure observability is built in from the start.
• Design and implement AI agents that detect, analyze, and troubleshoot software testing failures with minimal human intervention
• Build and maintain AI-powered quality automation ecosystems that monitor CI/CD pipelines across multiple programs and platforms

YOU’LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or other technical discipline
• 5+ years of experience in DevOps, site reliability engineering, platform engineering, or a related infrastructure discipline
• Hands-on experience operating and improving production observability and monitoring platforms
• Demonstrated expertise in AI/ML technologies with hands-on experience building AI-driven automation systems
• Experience with AWS and GCP cloud services
• Experience managing infrastructure as code with Terraform and collaborating through Git-based workflows
• U.S. citizenship is required, due to program requirements

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:

• Experience with Splunk
• Experience administering and configuring data visualization and analytics platforms, such as Grafana
• Administration experience with Time Series Databases, such as Grafana Mimir
• Strong problem-solving skills with an automation-first mindset and a track record of improving reliability in production environments
• Experience deploying and managing Prometheus-based monitoring with kube-prometheus-stack
• Experience configuring and operating Grafana Alloy for telemetry collection and forwarding
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipeline automation tools, DevSecOps practices, and Kubernetes operations
• Experience with cloud networking concepts and troubleshooting
• Experience building dashboards using tools like Grafana, Kibana, or custom visualization frameworks
• Knowledge of security testing tools and DevSecOps security practices
• Aerospace background supporting satellite, spacecraft, constellation, or launch vehicle ground/mission operations
• Expertise in Git-based workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and Kubernetes orchestration
• Experience with observability and monitoring tools
• Experience with Kubecost
• Operating and building solutions within GovCloud environment

This position may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, computer work, and occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.

Anticipated annual equity grant value is designed around function, level, experience, and other factors; realized value depends on vesting and stock-price performance.

Join one of the world's fastest-growing space companies and own a piece of it. In addition to competitive base pay,  you'll receive company stock as part of your total compensation package, giving you a direct stake in our success. As we expand to new launch sites, groundbreaking missions, and global markets, your ownership has the opportunity to grow alongside the company.

Our comprehensive benefits package includes our industry-leading Employee Stock Purchase Program (with a 15% discount on company stock), top-tier medical plans (HMO, PPO, and a zero cost HDHP option with a significant HSA company contribution), dental and vision coverage, paid vacation and sick time, 11 paid holidays, flexible spending and dependent care accounts, paid parental leave, disability and life insurance, and a 401(k) retirement plan with company match.

Additional perks include subsidized EV charging, onsite fitness centers (where available), discounted gym memberships, complimentary snacks and beverages, 50% employee discount on our popular merch store, and a variety of other employee discounts.

Level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Total Compensation (base and equity)

$176,000—$207,000 USD

Base Salary

$124,000—$171,000 USD

WHAT TO EXPECT  

We’re on a mission to unlock the potential of space to improve life on Earth, but that’s not an easy task. It takes hard work, determination, relentless innovation, teamwork, grit, and an unwavering commitment to achieving what others often deem impossible. Our people out-think, out-work, and out-pace. We pride ourselves on having each other’s backs, checking our egos at the door, and rolling up our sleeves on all tasks big and small. We thrive under pressure, work to tight deadlines, and our focus is always on how we can deliver, rather than dwelling on the challenges that stand in the way.   

Important information:

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN US OFFICES ONLY:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR here.

Rocket Lab provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment at Rocket Lab, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for the application/interview process for a job in the United States should contact Giulia Johnson at [email protected]. This dedicated resource is intended solely to assist job seekers with disabilities whose disability prevents them from being able to apply/interview. Only messages left for this purpose will be considered. A response to your request may take up to two business days.

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN NEW ZEALAND OFFICES ONLY:

For security reasons, background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant.  These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations. 

Under these Regulations, you may be ineligible for this role if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a country that is part of NATO, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.  For more information on these Regulations, click here ITAR Regulations.