Senior Program Manager II - Laser Communications

Rocket Lab Long Beach, CA Full Time USD 166,800 - 258,625 p.a. Today About The Job 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, precision payloads to the components and subsystems that allow them to thrive in space, like solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separati... Our Space Systems team has enabled more than 1,700 missions, ranging from interplanetary exploration, 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 Develop... SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER II - LASER COMMUNICATIONS Key Responsibilities Lead Delivery: Lead terminal programs from award through qualification, production at rate, delivery, and on-orbit checkout, across current-generation production and next-generation variants. Hold each program to its plan and deliver on schedule, technical performance, and every customer commitment. Lead the Team of Teams: Run multiple concurrent customer programs, work closely with Chief Engineers on link performance, data rate, SWaP, environmental qualification, and optical terminal interoperability, and dive in personally on the problems that matter most to delivery. Deliver at Rate: Own each program’s delivery profile and protect it. Spot yield, supplier, and test-capacity risk early and drive it to closure with Operations and the Product team. Forge the Supply Chain: Partner with Supply Chain to manage critical suppliers as strategic partners, building the relationships and accountability that keep every customer delivery on schedule. Run the Program Lifecycle: Own program startup and baselining, milestone and qualification reviews, export and ITAR obligations with Trade Compliance, customer acceptance, and closeout across our U.S. and European sites. Champion the Customer: Be the trusted point of contact for customers through milestone reviews, interoperability campaigns, acceptance, and delivery. Partner with BD & Strategy on proposals and with the Product team on pricing and configuration, bringing the voice of the customer to every decision. Raise the Bar: Mentor the people around you, set a high standard for how we show up for customers, and help develop the program leaders who will run our next generation of laser communications programs. Required Skills & Abilities Engineering Foundation: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physics, or Math. Technical Depth: Working understanding of free-space optical or RF communications: link budgets, pointing, acquisition, and tracking, modems and coding, and space or airborne environmental qualification. 8+ years in space, aerospace, or photonics hardware programs, with multiple full program cycles. We weight the hardest thing you’ve shipped over the count. Customer Delivery: A track record of leading a complex hardware program to delivery (customer, schedule, risk, and acceptance) and carrying it across the finish line under real pressure. Production Delivery: Evidence you’ve moved real hardware from prototype to qualified, rate-production delivery to customers. Program Financials: Experience managing program cost, EAC, and customer contract changes in partnership with finance and product teams on a program of meaningful scale. Proof Point: You’ve delivered hardware at rate to a demanding customer and kept their trust through a hard moment, such as a slip, a test failure, or a contract change. Clearance: U.S. Person status required (ITAR/EAR); ability to obtain a security clearance preferred. Domain Authority: Direct experience with optical inter-satellite links or optical ground or airborne terminals. Production Velocity: A proven playbook for taking low-volume, hand-built optical or electro-optical hardware into high-rate production without sacrificing reliability. Constellation Fluency: Experience delivering to large commercial or defense constellation programs. Customer Leadership: Experience as the primary customer interface for constellation operators or satellite primes, from kickoff through acceptance. Global Leadership: Experience leading program work across geographically dispersed sites, including export-control and dual-use compliance. Advanced Technical Credibility: A Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Optics/Photonics, Physics, or a related field. Systems & Toolchain Fluency: You speak systems engineering (trade studies, interface control, requirement integrity) and use Jira, Confluence, and ERP/MRP to keep program health visible at speed. AI Fluency: You put AI tools to work in day-to-day program management, from schedule and risk analysis to status reporting and customer communications, so you and your team spend more time on the problems that matter. Work Authorization Citizenship of AU / NZ / EU / NATO Apply now Please let Rocket Lab know you found this job on JobVista. This helps us grow! Apply now Apply now Please let Rocket Lab know you found this job on JobVista. This helps us grow! Apply now Job Overview Company Rocket Lab Location Long Beach, CA Job Type Full Time Salary USD 166,800 - 258,625 p.a. Posted Today Deadline Apr 7, 2027 About Company Industry Aerospace/Defense Founded 2018 View Company Profile ⟶ Quick Actions