Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer II/Principal - Secret ClearanceActive$231K
The opportunity
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company delivering responsive launch services, complete spacecraft design and manufacturing, payloads, satellite components, and more – all with the goal of opening access to space. The rockets and satellites we build and launch enable some of…
What you'll do
Serve as the program's mission operations technical lead: set the technical direction and strategy for operations, plan and prioritize the work of the mission operations staff, and act as the primary operations point of contact for program-level design decisions and trades
Advocate for operability across the program: influence spacecraft and ground architecture upstream so vehicles are designed to be operated safely, efficiently, and autonomously, and push for changes to program design and execution when operational needs demand it
Own mission operations requirements and lead requirements validation and: verification for spacecraft missions and system-level capability and function
Define the automation strategy and lead the development of robust,: software-driven methods for mission operations, testing, and data analysis to ensure efficient, repeatable, and reliable spacecraft operation
Design, develop, and test flight software sequences and FDIR/telemetry: configurations to ensure spacecraft health and fault management through software-driven processes
Architect, develop, and test ground software for long-duration operations,: including scripting and automation frameworks that make operations robust, hands-off, and scalable across a growing fleet
What they're looking for
- Establish and steward the integration, testing, and maintenance of mission: operations tooling and codebases, including CI, version control, and release discipline. Ensure the on-call or shift schedules of operations
- Author and own interface specifications, CONOPS, contingency procedures, and: other operational design documents
- Lead validation of flight products and procedures against spacecraft: simulation tools, including flatsat, HITL, SIL, and digital twins
- Support AIT teams across multiple spacecraft integrated tests (TVAC, propulsion stack, DITL