Head of Mission Design & Flight Dynamics 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
Our Space Systems division delivers ambitious missions including NASA's CAPSTONE lunar mission, orbital re-entry enabling microgravity manufacturing, and twin spacecraft launched to Mars in partnership with UC Berkeley and NASA. We design and build everything from bespoke satellites to full constellations, supported by vertically integrated, in-house components.
The Role
As Head of Mission Design & Flight Dynamics, you will lead the discipline across all missions and locations, spanning analysis, development, and operations. This role is based in New Zealand or the United States.
What You'll Do
- Own the vision and direction of the Mission Design & Flight Dynamics technology roadmap, balancing live mission delivery with long-term capability growth
- Drive measurable progress toward greater automation, efficiency, and expanded operational capability
- Provide mentorship, clarity of vision, prioritisation, and motivation to the Flight Dynamics team during development phases and operational campaigns
- Lead a global multi-site team, supported by regional Team Leads who manage day-to-day execution
- Focus on strategic leadership, technical forecasting, emergent risk response, and cross-functional decision making
- Maintain strong technical awareness across interfaces including Spacecraft Operations, Flight Software, Guidance Navigation and Control, Ground Software, and Systems
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Aerospace Engineering or a related field
- 8 or more years of applied spacecraft flight dynamics and/or operations experience, including relevant software development and testing
- Strong capability to balance complex, parallel tasks
- Ability to operate under significant pressure in both operational and development environments
- Proven ability to motivate geographically distributed teams and provide clarity through complex technical challenges
- Background in orbit determination or trajectory optimisation
- Experience with hiring, performance, and remuneration cycles
Important Information
For candidates seeking to work in US offices: To conform to US Government space technology export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab employees must be a US citizen, lawful US permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the US as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the US Department of State and/or US Department of Commerce.
For candidates seeking to work in New Zealand offices: Background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers. You must be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States' International Traffic in Arms 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.