Job brief: Senior Program Manager II - Laser Communications

What JoRoute checked · Checked by JoRoute

• Listed on Rocket Lab's own job board. JoRoute does not take listings from job ads or recruiters.
• First seen by JoRoute 2026-11-04 (4 days ago); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-07.
• The apply link opens job-boards.greenhouse.io, the address Rocket Lab's board gives for this job.
• No other listing with this title and place on this board in the last 90 days.
• No layoff notices (WARN) under this name in the state files JoRoute reads.

What the listing says · Employer's own words, not checked

• Pay: $153,000 to $229,500 a year
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: Long Beach, CA · RL Headquarters
• Posted: 2026-10-29

What the job asks · Employer's own words, not checked

Level: Manager. The title says "Manager".

Must have

• Engineering Foundation: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physics, or Math.
• 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.
• 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 v…
• Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab Employees must be a U.S.
• as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S.

Main duties

• Lead Delivery: Lead terminal programs from award through qualification, production at rate, delivery, and on-orbit checkout, across current-generation produc…
• Lead the Team of Teams: Run multiple concurrent customer programs, work closely with Chief Engineers on link performance, data rate, SWaP, environmental qual…
• Deliver at Rate: Own each program’s delivery profile and protect it.
• Partner with BD & Strategy on proposals and with the Product team on pricing and configuration, bringing the voice of the customer to every decision.

Lines copied from the posting, not rewritten. "Preferred" or "nice to have" items are not listed as must-haves.

How it compares · Compared by JoRoute from listings

• Typical listed pay for project and program manager jobs in California: $160k a year (125 listings, 35 employers). This listing is 20% higher.
• Across Rocket Lab's 452 open listings, 24% of those with a posting date were first posted more than 60 days ago. How Rocket Lab hires

What nobody outside the employer knows · Not known

• Whether the role is already filled or on hold: employers often leave listings up.
• How many people applied, and who reads the applications.
• Where in the published range an offer would land.

Ask before you apply

1. Which of the listed places is this role based in?
2. What are the interview steps, and when should I expect to hear back?

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Next steps

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• 28 more project and program manager jobs within 25 miles, on the job map with pay.
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