Job brief: Tool Design Engineer II

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 2026-11-10 (today); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-10.
• 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: $87,675 to $114,625 a year
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: Long Beach, CA · EDC
• Posted: 2026-11-09

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

Level: Mid level. The posting asks for 2+ years of experience.

Must have

• You will support the Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Design organizations, with deliverables required for internal leadership, board of directors, and inves…
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline
• 2+ years of tooling design and analysis
• 2+ years of technical project management or manufacturing design experience
• 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.

Conditions

• Flexibility to travel to alternative Rocket Lab production sites and vendors, up to 15%

Main duties

• Lead efforts to design, analyze, document, procure, and implement tooling (GSE) ranging in complexity from basic handling and production fixtures to engine o…
• Own manufacturing, schedule, and sourcing of critical production tools including the design and fabrication of tooling aids, support equipment and specialize…
• Lead efforts with vehicle manufacturing engineers and designers on better design for manufacturing when relating to GSE functions
• Drive product requirements, GD&T specifications and manufacturing process into robust, manufacturable, cost-effective tooling designs
• Lead tooling design reviews, tooling readiness reviews and corrective action investigations

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 engineer jobs in Long Beach, CA: $145k a year (148 listings, 3 employers). This listing is 30% lower.
• Across Rocket Lab's 461 open listings, 28% 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.

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1. Which of the listed places is this role based in?
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Next steps

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