Harness Design Engineer I Verified today
About Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems for missions ranging from interplanetary exploration to national security. Our Space Systems team has enabled over 1,700 missions and built spacecraft and components for the Moon and Mars, working with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.
The Role
Based in Long Beach, CA, you will design electrical harnesses for spacecraft and assist with avionics engineering activities. Your work will involve organizing interfaces, selecting components, specifying split locations and lengths, and generating design documentation for our spacecraft engineering team.
Harness Design Responsibilities
- Perform harness layout, connector and back shell selection, wire selection, and shielding design for spacecraft
- Generate pinout tables for harness connectors based on spacecraft interconnect diagrams
- Create and maintain bills of materials (BOMs) for harnessing in the product lifecycle management (PLM) tool
- Assist in creating documentation for electrical system schematics and harness designs
Avionics Responsibilities
- Develop test plans and procedures for avionics subsystems and components
- Perform analysis and evaluations to optimize spacecraft avionics circuits for performance, reliability, and manufacturability
- Participate in internal design and customer-facing review meetings as an avionics electrical engineering team representative
- Work in multi-disciplinary teams to assist in design of electronic assemblies for satellite and spacecraft programs
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, or related engineering discipline
- Experience with electrical engineering or avionics
- US citizenship (required due to program requirements)
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's or PhD in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, or related discipline
- Experience in aerospace and defense industry
- Experience supporting satellite development programs and operations
- Understanding of space environment, orbital mechanics, and rigid body dynamics
- Experience with LT Spice, Altium, and Siemens software suite (Teamcenter)
- Experience with requirement management tools such as JAMA
- Experience testing electrical subsystems and assemblies, including thermal vacuum, random vibration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing
- Proficiency in electronics principles and electrical systems: power electronics, communication systems (RS-422, SPI, Ethernet, CAN bus), signal integrity, and grounding
- Proficiency with instrumentation and sensors: power supplies, oscilloscopes, serial devices, accelerometers, thermocouples, RTDs, and 4-20mA sensors
- Ability to work in dynamic environments with competing priorities
Compensation and Benefits
Base pay range (CA): $88,000 to $132,000 USD. Compensation includes company stock as part of the total package. Benefits include an Employee Stock Purchase Program (15% discount), medical plans (HMO, PPO, zero-cost HDHP with HSA 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, 401(k) with company match, subsidized EV charging, onsite fitness centers, discounted gym memberships, complimentary snacks and beverages, 50% employee discount on merchandise, and additional employee discounts.
Working Conditions
This position may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, and computer work, with occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.