Senior Development Engineer

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.

ABOUT ENGINEERING AT ROCKET LAB:

Engineering is the heart of Rocket Lab. We build world-class rockets and spacecraft and we launch them, often.

As a Senior Development Engineer in Propulsion, you'll own what powers Electron to orbit: Engines, turbopumps, valves, injectors, and the fluid systems that feed them.

First sketch to flight-ready hardware, and the standard everyone else builds to. You'll define the requirements, iterate in NX with analysis and manufacturing, own the EBOM, and release the drawings that get parts built. Then you'll plan and run the campaign that proves it, component rigs to hot fire, and coach the engineers who'll run the next one. Once it's flying, you define how it's operated and maintained.

It's hands-on, fast-paced problem solving where rapid innovation meets the highest safety standards and your hardware launches.

WHAT YOU'LL GET TO DO:

Technical standard -You define best practice, consistently pick the right solution, and coach the team to the same bar

Manage Risk -You see it before it happens, put the mitigation in place, and check it held

Unsolved problems -When something stalls between teams or falls outside anyone's process, you take it, unasked, and bring others up as you go

Planning -Department level plans, work distributed across the team, and the new processes and equipment that make the next engine faster than the last

Judgement -You're the technical tiebreaker. The deciding argument is always what's best for the company

The people around you - You run meetings that go somewhere, convey technical information concisely enough to change direction, and deputise for the lead when needed

Some days you're deep in test data. Others you're on the production floor, taking hard feedback from the technicians who build your parts or in the development lab, pushing a new concept or a flight-ready engine to its limits. Both are good days. This is not a desk job.

YOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

6+ year’s industry experience and an engineering degree.

Deep manufacturing and production understanding.

Experience taking a product from development into rate production.

Proven ability to technically steer a team across multiple engineering projects, concept through to operation, not one project, several.

Depth in at least two of these:

Skills that transfer. You don't need to have built a rocket. You need to have solved hard engineering problems well enough that the domain is the only new thing.

Structural: Will it hold up under load?

Vibration - How does it shake and resonate?

CFD - How do fluids and gases flow through it?

Thermal - How does heat move through it?

Fatigue and creep - Will it wear out or deform over time?

FMEA - What could go wrong, before it does?

Root cause - Why did it fail, and how do we stop it happening again?

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:

Master's or PhD

Rocket, aerospace or automotive background

Applied analysis - structural, modal, CFD, thermal, fatigue, DFMEA/PFMEA or DMAIC

Experience with our toolset - NX, Teamcenter, JAMA and Jira. If you've used the equivalents, you'll pick these up fast

If the above sounds like you apply now!

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.