Rocket Lab

Senior Manufacturing Engineer I - Avionics & Test

Rocket Lab$115K — $155K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or similar
  • 5+ years of technical experience in a Manufacturing, Production, or Process Engineering environment
  • Hands-on experience proactively identifying and solving systemic multifaceted problems in complex manufacturing systems
  • Ability to effectively deliver on multiple complex multifaceted assignments simultaneously with autonomy
  • Ability to effectively coach and mentor others
  • Detailed technical knowledge in complex manufacturing processes
  • Hands-on technical experience debugging complex electro-mechanical systems in a manufacturing environment
  • Significant experience with data acquisition and analyses

Responsibilities

  • Prepare feasibility studies and conduct manufacturing technology R&D projects
  • Partner with Design Engineering teams to ensure robustness and manufacturability
  • Engineer and deliver factories — design, procure, install, and validate assembly processes
  • Support development builds to investigate early learnings and resolve issues
  • Take engineering ownership of production lines to improve yield and efficiency
  • Triage and diagnose failures, conducting deep technical investigations
  • Drive process improvements across manufacturing, test, and integration

Benefits

  • Company stock as part of total compensation package
  • Employee Stock Purchase Program with a 15% discount
  • Top-tier medical, dental, and vision plans
  • Paid vacation and sick time, plus 11 paid holidays
  • Paid parental leave and disability/life insurance
  • 401(k) retirement plan with company match
  • Subsidized EV charging and onsite fitness centers
  • Discounts on merchandise and gym memberships
Full Job Description
SENIOR MANUFACTURING ENGINEER I - AVIONICS& TEST

This role centers on testing and avionics, involving hands-on debugging of electro-mechanical and avionics systems, optimizing manufacturing processes, and supporting product design for manufacturability. It also includes troubleshooting production issues, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and driving process improvements.

WHAT YOU'LL GET TO DO:
  • Prepare feasibility studies and conduct manufacturing technology Research & Development projects
  • Partner with our Design Engineering teams to incorporate Design for Manufacture into our products to ensure robustness and manufacturability at scale
  • Engineer and deliver our factories - design, procure, install, validate assembly, test and verification processes
  • Support Development builds to uncover early learnings and resolve issues to accelerate the production ramp up
  • Take engineering ownership of production lines to remove blockers, improve yield and increase build efficiency
  • Triage and diagnose failures, conduct deep technical investigations and determine the right path forward including risk mitigation actions and root cause resolution
  • Collaborate with cross functional teams to resolve complex issues
  • Drive process improvements across manufacturing, test and integration
  • Contribute to change management, assessing risk and impact of design or process changes
  • Support business system and process improvements to drive increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency

YOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or similar
  • 5+ years of technical experience in a Manufacturing, Production, or Process Engineering environment
  • Hands-on experience proactively identifying and solving systemic multifaceted problems in complex manufacturing systems
  • Ability to effectively deliver on multiple complex multifaceted assignments simultaneously with autonomy
  • Ability to effectively coach and mentor others to raise the bar across multiple teams
  • Detailed technical knowledge in complex manufacturing processes
  • Hands-on technical experience debugging complex electro-mechanical systems in a manufacturing environment
  • Significant experience with data acquisition and analyses

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:
  • Working experience with environmental acceptance/production acceptance testing, such as vibration, shock, thermal, and vacuum
  • Understanding of instrumentation, interfaces, and sensors including power supplies, oscilloscopes, serial devices, switch topologies, accelerometers, thermocouples, RTDs, and 4-20mA sensors
  • Experience with designing, implementing, and supporting a production line and/or build area
  • Experience transitioning products from design to production as a part of cross-functional team in a fast-paced, iterative design environment
  • Demonstrated experience with DFMEA, PFMEA methodologies, Fault Tree Analysis, Pareto analysis, root cause and corrective action

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.

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.

Join one of the world's fastest-growing space companies and own a piece of it. In addition to competitive 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.

Base Pay Range (CA Only)

$115,000-$155,000 USD

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is a private American aerospace manufacturer and small satellite launch service provider. The company was founded in 2006 by New Zealander Peter Beck. Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is designed to launch small payloads of up to 300 kg into low Earth orbit. The company has launched several successful missions and has contracts with NASA and other organizations. Rocket Lab has raised over $200 million in funding and has offices in the United States and New Zealand.
Learn more about Rocket Lab
Size
500 employees
Market Cap
$1.6 billion
Industry
Founded
2006
NASDAQ

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