Senior Machine Learning Engineer II

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. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine.

About the Role

Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems division solves mission-critical space domain and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) challenges for Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) customers. Our vision is to revolutionize the space-based payload market with innovative and novel designs for space, terrestrial, and airborne environments. Building on more than 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems innovation, Optical Systems delivers solutions to the warfighter for responsive, scalable sensing solutions across all orbital domains.

As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer II based at our Optical Systems sites in Chantilly, VA, you will support Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency's (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) and beyond by building deep learning neural networks for advanced Electro-Optical (EO/IR) image processing.

Responsibilities

• Contribute your experience to developing solutions for real-world problems.
• Design, train, and deploy machine learning models for Optical Systems applications.
• Build and maintain ML pipelines for data ingestion, feature engineering, training, and inference.
• Collaborate with other researchers/engineers on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision.
• Perform rapid prototyping and enhanced development to be integrated into operational systems.
• Perform troubleshooting, bug fixes, and maintenance of existing and new systems.
• Stay current with ML research and evaluate new tools, frameworks, and techniques.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of experience, master’s degree and 6+ years of experience, or a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
• Strong background in machine learning including model selection, architecting, training, validation, testing, and deployment.
• Experience in building deep learning neural networks for computer vision, image processing, or video analysis (e.g., object detection, image segmentation, and tracking).
• Strong math background, particularly linear algebra.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Experience with deep learning libraries (Keras, TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.).
• Software engineering fundamentals: version control, testing, CI/CD, containerization.
• U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance.

Nice to Have

• Proficiency in C/C++/Rust.
• Experience curating quality, real-world datasets for training deep learning models.
• TS/SCI security clearance.

Work Environment

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.

Pay

Base Pay Range (VA Only): $153,000—$229,500 USD. Final agreed-upon compensation is based upon individual qualifications and experience.

Benefits

• Company stock or cash incentives.
• Option to purchase discounted stock through Rocket Lab’s Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
• 401(k) retirement plan options.
• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave.
• Paid parental leave.
• Other discounts and perks.