Senior Mechanical Development & Test Engineer II Verified today
About Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems. Our Space Systems team has enabled more than 1,700 missions for NASA, the Space Development Agency, U.S. Space Force, and commercial partners, including spacecraft and components for missions to the Moon and Mars.
The Role
Based in Long Beach, CA, you will be responsible for the end-to-end design, build, test, and execution of complex internal test capabilities. This includes qualification tests and large-volume acceptance tests requiring high levels of automation. Hardware tests may include avionics boxes, complex mechanisms, and fully integrated spacecraft in stressing environments.
What You'll Do
- Lead qualification test campaigns
- Lead high-volume acceptance test infrastructure development and insertion into the production floor
- Advise on in-house test capabilities, limits, and future needs
- Manage test projects end-to-end, including resourcing, scheduling, and budgeting
- Hands-on work with test infrastructure implementation and validation
- Work closely with design and other test engineers to iterate through design concepts and determine test requirements
- Design complex Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE) to support test implementation
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or other engineering discipline
- 8+ years of engineering experience in the aerospace industry
- Experience using NX Nastran, NX CAD, and Teamcenter packages
- Experience in component and system-level environmental testing
- Experience with test automation and post-test data analysis
Nice to Have
- Master's or PhD in mechanical engineering or other engineering discipline
- Experience with Confluence and JIRA
- Experience with Python for automation and data analysis
- Experience leading teams of engineers and technicians
Compensation and Benefits
Base pay range (CA only): $141,800 to $236,200 USD. Compensation includes company stock as part of your total package, Employee Stock Purchase Program with 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, gym discounts, and 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.
US Work Authorization Requirement
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including ITAR, employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce.