Rocket Lab Looking for Manufacturing Engineer – Propulsion at Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Full Time

Rocket Lab is a vertically integrated provider of small launch services, satellites, and spacecraft components. Our mission is to open access to space to improve life on Earth. Our team is over 1,500 people strong and we’re adding to it every week. Collaboration is at our core – every idea is heard, and everyone makes a difference. Teams are nimble, decisions are made quickly, and we are action oriented.

While other companies talk about it, we do it!

About The Role

The Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer enables the production team to achieve the required production rates with the right quality.

They are responsible for supporting all aspects of production at Rocket Lab. This is delivered by taking ownership of products released to production, removing production blockers, dispositioning non-conformance tickets, performing root-cause analysis, and implementing corrective actions.

Manufacturing Engineers are also responsible for the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes and procedures, leveraging their strong working knowledge of both the product and best-practice manufacturing techniques. They do this thorough working with the production team to optimize processes for production, and implementing new processes through prototyping, test, and integration.

Key aspects of this role include supporting the engine assembly process, maintaining testing infrastructure as well as testing and performance verification processes of propulsion components including high power motor controllers, turbopumps and liquid rocket engines. Success in this role is defined by high quality output to the vehicle integration team while driving down the time in process for the propulsion systems.

Essential Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or related
• Hands-on technical experience debugging complex mechanical, electrical or software systems within a Manufacturing environment
• Strong communicator, with proven ability to deliver KPI’s with little to no supervision on schedule as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
• Can-do approach and flexibility to thrive around growing teams and processes
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Proven risk assessment and risk-based decision-making skills

Desirable Skills

• Experience with ERP/PLM Systems – Siemens Team Centre / Infor LN
• Computer Aided Design experience, preferably with Siemens NX
• Knowledge of production quality metrics
• Strong experience in configuration control and configuration management in production systems
• Understanding of instrumentation, interfaces, and sensors including power supplies, accelerometers, thermocouples, RTDs, and pressure sensors
• Demonstrated experience with DFMEA, PFMEA methodologies, Fault Tree Analysis, Pareto analysis, root cause and corrective action
• Proven ability to deliver new product implementation activities on time and to budget
• Familiar with engineering change processes and implementation in production environments
• Experience with implementing, operating and maintaining test systems for acceptance testing production hardware
• Experience using python for data analytics and data post-processing

Rocket Lab Employee Benefits

• The opportunity to work on innovative technology
• Access to world leading experts to develop your career
• Rocket Lab merchandise – T-shirts, mission patches etc.
• Discounted health insurance with Southern Cross
• Additional parental leave entitlements
• A vibrant team culture with social activities throughout the year
• An employee stock purchase program

For more information apply now – all applications are considered and reviewed.

Important Information

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN US OFFICES ONLY:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR

Rocket Lab provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment at Rocket Lab, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for the application/interview process for a job in the United States should contact Giulia Biow at

FOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN NEW ZEALAND OFFICES ONLY:

For security reasons background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant. These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States’ International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Under these 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. For more information on these Regulations, click here