{"id":639262,"url":"https://alion.io/job/rocketlab-principal-avionics-engineer-neutron","title":"Principal Avionics Engineer - Neutron","company":{"id":684473,"name":"Rocket Lab","domain":"rocketlab.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/rocketlab-2","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":77,"open_postings":76,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.921,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":37,"computed_at":"2026-09-26T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Auckland, New Zealand"],"countries":["NZ"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":88000,"max_usd":200000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":929},"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-10T03:29:17Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-25","last_verified_at":"2026-09-27T03:10:17Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":17,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":17},"description":"ABOUT ROCKET LAB\nRocket 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.\nWe’re building Neutron, a medium lift, reusable launch vehicle designed for constellation deployment, interplanetary missions, and human spaceflight. It's the most ambitious programme in our history, and the avionics that fly it are being designed, built, and tested in house and we are looking for a Principal Engineer to join the team doing it.\nABOUT THE ROLE\nThe Neutron Avionics team owns every avionics system on the vehicle. Flight computers, power distribution, sensing, comms, and the flexible harness assemblies that tie it all together. Almost all of it is developed and produced internally, which means the people who design it also see it fly.\nAs Principal Avionics Engineer, you are the technical authority for avionics hardware, circuit design, PCB layout, and test strategy and coverage. This is a hands on technical leadership role with no direct reports, your influence comes from your engineering judgement, your ability to solve problems nobody has solved before, and the engineers you make better along the way.\nYOU’LL GET TO:\nOwn & Ship\nAct as technical lead and subject matter expert for avionics hardware hands on, on the bench, and in the reviews\nTake avionics components and architectures through the full lifecycle requirements R&D prototyping, qualification, and production\nReview and approve engineering change, oversee board and flex assembly design, design analyses, and design validation\nSolve & Fix\nOwn technical risk to avionics and to the vehicle, assessing probability and consequence, and making the trade calls\nLead root cause analysis on anomalies and failures, and make sure the fix sticks\nLead & Scale\nLead small teams through significant engineering challenges\nAssess emerging technologies and shape the avionics technology pipeline and development strategy\nImprove how we engineer: R&D practice, design for manufacture, engineering change, and the processes that let us scale\nGrow & Deliver\nMentor and coach engineers at every level, contribute to performance reviews, and help shape resourcing plans, hiring strategy, and onboarding\nYOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:\nCore requirements:\nBachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline, or equivalent professional experience\n8+ years of relevant industry experience\nHigh proficiency in at least two of: analogue design, high speed digital, power electronics\nStrong command of electronics design tools, including circuit simulation and analysis\nA genuine aptitude for technical guidance and mentoring, at any level\nExcellent written and verbal communication, and demonstrated organisation and planning skills\nBONUS POINTS FOR:\nHardware taken from concept all the way through to production\nUnderstanding of space environmental testing vibration, shock, thermal, TVAC\nFamiliarity with formal systems engineering: requirements management, compliance matrices\nExperience building and pitching business cases for capital investment\nExperience setting technical strategy and communicating it to individual contributors\nA track record of driving cross functional initiatives through influence rather than authority\nEXPECTATIONS\nOwnership mentality with the ability to drive tasks and projects to completion independently\nThrive in ambiguous, fast changing environments where requirements evolve rapidly\nBalance speed with quality, move quickly while maintaining appropriate rigour\nNo task is beneath you, roll up your sleeves and do what's needed for mission success\nBias for action, prioritise getting hands on, building and testing hardware to get results early\nWHAT NEXT\nDesign it, build it, watch it launch, then watch it come back. Apply now.\nWHAT TO EXPECT \nWe’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. \nImportant information:\nFOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN US OFFICES ONLY:\nTo 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.\nRocket 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.\nApplicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for the application/interview process for a job in the United States should contact Giulia Johnson at . 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.\nFOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN NEW ZEALAND OFFICES ONLY:\nFor 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. \nUnder 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6912,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-10T20:00:17Z"}],"liveness":{"score":54,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.603,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":16,"expected_fill_days":37,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","win:mid","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-09-26T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/rocketlab-principal-avionics-engineer-neutron","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/rocketlab-principal-avionics-engineer-neutron.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-27T05:13:10Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4586,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":414,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z"}}}