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SPACE SYSTEMS

At Rocket Lab, we're not just launching rockets - we're building the future of space. Our Space Systems team builds everything from complete spacecraft and precision payloads to the components and subsystems that allow them to thrive in space, including solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, radios, and more.

Our Space Systems team has enabled more than 1,700 missions, ranging from interplanetary exploration and in-space manufacturing to national security and defense initiatives. The team has built spacecraft, payloads, and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, working with partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force. Whether it's a single high-performance spacecraft, constellation, or vertically integrated components that help missions get to space, our world-class Space Systems team is empowering some of the boldest and most ambitious space missions

SENIOR TECHNICAL PROGRAM MANAGER, SPACE SENSING & DOMAIN AWARENRESS (TS/SCI)

Based at Rocket Lab's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA, you are the program authority for our advanced optical and infrared sensing payloads. You own the technical roadmap and strategic "Make/Buy" decisions from the first "blank sheet" prototype, through flight qualification, and into scalable production. This is a high-ownership role: you'll immerse yourself in the operational realities of the tracking, warning, and surveillance mission to turn their hardest problems into concrete technical milestones, and you'll be the person the program runs on.

WHAT YOU'LL GET TO DO:

• Command the Lifecycle: Build and lead the team that takes EO/IR sensing payloads and optical systems from a "blank sheet" concept through qualification, scalable production, and flight, and own the technical roadmap that grows the team's core capabilities.
• Lead the Team of Teams: Run multiple active programs at once, make sound architectural calls with Chief Engineers, navigate the hardest trade-offs in pointing stability and jitter, sensitivity, and revisit, and personally dive into the most program-threatening problems alongside the team.
• Build the Bench: Grow a culture where strong people take smart, healthy risks and the best idea wins, no matter who it comes from, we back bold calls and treat an intelligent miss as the cost of moving fast, and coach and develop the next generation of program and team leaders.
• Forge the Supply Chain: Manage high-stakes subcontracts and suppliers as strategic partners essential to the mission, protecting schedule and margin.
• Unblock Excellence: Synchronize cross-functional teams across optics, electronics, software, and the data chain and clear roadblocks quickly so the team keeps moving at speed and quality stays high.
• Influence the Future: Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned U.S. Government tracking, warning, and surveillance customers, and partner with BD & Strategy on proposals and technical narratives that define the next generation of space domain awareness.

YOU'LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline
• 8+ years of program management experience 
• A demonstrated track record of owning a technical program, product, or team end to end and carrying it across the finish line under real pressure, we hire on what you've shipped, not years logged
• Evidence you've moved real hardware and software from prototype toward scalable, flight-ready production
• Understanding of the nuances of EO/IR sensing, optical payloads, or focal plane arrays
• Experience identifying technical, schedule, or supply-chain risk and neutralizing it before it impacts the mission
• Active TS/SCI clearance

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:

• Production Velocity: A proven playbook for transitioning low-volume prototypes into scalable production without sacrificing mission reliability.
• Domain Authority: Deep experience navigating National Security Space (NSS) or large sensing and tracking constellations.
• Capture & Customer: Demonstrated success negotiating, capturing, and executing large U.S. Government contracts.
• Advanced Technical Credibility: A Master's degree in Engineering, Optics, or a related field that lets you peer-review sensing roadmaps.
• Systems & Toolchain Fluency: You speak Systems Engineering, trade studies, interface control, requirement integrity, and use Jira, Confluence, and ERP to keep program health visible at speed.
• Depth of Reps: Multiple program cycles or 8+ years in aerospace/defense, sharpen the edge, but we weight the hardest thing you've shipped over the count.

This position may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, computer work, and occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.