Job brief: Lead Systems Engineer

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 (2 days ago); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-06.
• 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: Not published
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: Tucson, AZ · Geost Wetmore
• Posted: 2026-10-11

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

Level: Lead / staff. The title says "Lead".

Must have

• Building on more than 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems innovation from Geost, Rocket Lab Optical Systems delivers solutions to the warfighter for responsive, scala…
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, systems, or aerospace engineering; or other technical discipline
• 12+ years of engineering experience, including 3+ years supporting development programs and 2+ years in technical leadership, CAM, IPTL, or equivalent role
• Current SSBI clearance
• 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

• Support travel or off-site work as needed

Main duties

• Support the development of system architecture for space-based optical instruments, subsystems, and payloads on airborne and space platforms, with emphasis o…
• Develop and maintain technical documentation including architecture descriptions, interface control documents, electrical interface definitions, concepts of …
• Support development of electrical and functional architectures, including command and telemetry flow, power distribution, control logic, signal paths, timing…
• Collaborate with hardware, software, firmware, and test teams to ensure the electrical architecture and controls implementation align with system requirement…
• Support the development, integration, and testing of space payloads to be integrated on spacecraft platforms

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 Tucson, AZ: $105k a year (7 listings, 3 employers). This listing does not publish pay to compare.
• Across Rocket Lab's 457 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.
• The pay an offer would carry.

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