Avionics Engineer - Design Verified today
About Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, and expand humanity's reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
About Space Systems at Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab's Space Systems team designs and builds every satellite and satellite component made by Rocket Lab. We create complete satellites for missions to the Moon and Mars, plus individual components and subsystems including solar panels, flight software, reaction wheels, star trackers, separation systems, and radios.
What you will do
- Design and develop flight-quality PCBAs for spacecraft avionics systems, including schematic capture, component selection, circuit design for power electronics and control systems, and collaboration with PCB layout designers
- Conduct electrical analyses including worst-case analysis, power budgets, thermal derating, and signal integrity assessments to verify design robustness
- Participate in hands-on bring-up, debugging, and verification of prototype hardware, plus support environmental testing activities (Thermal Vacuum, vibration, EMI/EMC)
- Create and maintain comprehensive design documentation including schematics, bills of materials, test reports, and design justification documents
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Test, Manufacturing, Systems Engineering, and other subsystem groups to resolve interface issues and support integrated system development
Your qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electronics, or related field with 1-3+ years of experience in electronics design or hardware development
- Strong foundation in electronics fundamentals: power electronics, analogue and digital circuit design, signal integrity, and grounding principles
- Proficiency in schematic capture and PCB layout using eCAD tools (Altium Designer preferred) and circuit simulation tools (LTspice, SPICE, or equivalent)
- Hands-on experience with standard laboratory instrumentation and ability to read datasheets, perform component-level analysis, and troubleshoot hardware issues
- Strong documentation skills and effective communication abilities to work within cross-functional engineering teams
Nice to have
- Experience designing power electronics (DC-DC converters, linear regulators, power distribution circuits) or motor drive electronics
- Familiarity with space-specific design considerations such as radiation effects, thermal management in vacuum, component derating, or aerospace qualification testing
- Experience performing detailed electrical analyses (Worst-Case Analysis, thermal analysis, power budgeting) and understanding of DFM/DFT principles
- Programming experience (Python, MATLAB) for data analysis/test automation or familiarity with FPGA development (Verilog/VHDL)
- Understanding of requirements management and configuration control processes in regulated or high-reliability environments
Important information
For security reasons, background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers. Under ITAR 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.