Launch & propulsion · Launch and spacecraft
Rocket Lab jobs
Rocket Lab builds and launches the Electron rocket, is developing the reusable Neutron rocket, and builds spacecraft and spacecraft components (solar power, reaction wheels, separation systems). It hires in Long Beach, California, Auckland, New Zealand, and its sites in Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia.
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 513 open jobs at Rocket Lab; their typical pay runs $78k to $230k a year, with a median of $121k.
Typical pay, live
Latest Rocket Lab openings
Read 7 Nov 2026, 10:02 UTCAccounts Payable Specialist (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Long Beach, CA · todayDetails
$26.54–$33.17/hrSenior Manufacturing Engineer I - Avionics & Test (opens the job details)
Technicians · Long Beach, CA · todayDetails
$115,200–$144,000/yrSenior Manufacturing Engineer II - Avionics & Test (opens the job details)
Technicians · Long Beach, CA · todayDetails
$132,000–$176,000/yrSoftware Product Owner (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Auckland, NZ · 1d agoDetails
Senior Inventory Coordinator I (opens the job details)
Supply Chain · Toronto, CAN · todayDetails
Equipment Maintenance Technician II (opens the job details)
Technicians · Long Beach, CA · todayDetails
$30–$45/hrSenior Equipment Maintenance Technician (opens the job details)
Technicians · Long Beach, CA · todayDetails
$30–$45/hrSenior Ground Systems Engineer - Structures & Mechanisms (opens the job details)
Mechanical · Wallops Island, VA, United States · todayDetails
$100,000–$137,000/yrGround Systems Engineer II - Structures & Mechanisms (opens the job details)
Mechanical · Wallops Island, VA, United States · todayDetails
$87,000–$120,000/yrBusiness Development Engineer I (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Littleton, CO, United States · 1d agoDetails
$66,000–$90,000/yrBusiness Development Engineer I (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Long Beach, CA · 1d agoDetails
$72,000–$100,000/yrBusiness Development Engineer II (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Littleton, CO, United States · 1d agoDetails
$75,000–$103,000/yr
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Rocket Lab on our lists
Where Rocket Lab's current postings put it, each list naming every other space employer in the same spot.
Rocket Lab openings, sent to you weekly
Each week we send the newest postings from Rocket Lab's own careers site, along with similar openings at other space employers. It costs nothing and you can stop anytime.
Rocket Lab at a glance
Rocket Lab builds and launches the Electron rocket, is developing the reusable Neutron rocket, and builds spacecraft and spacecraft components (solar power, reaction wheels, separation systems). It hires in Long Beach, California, Auckland, New Zealand, and its sites in Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia.
513 roles taken from its careers site on 2026-11-07A recruiter wrote to you in Rocket Lab's name?
Rocket Lab's own sites: rocketlabcorp.com.
What Rocket Lab pays
Read from the ranges on its open jobs · 2026-11-07The median is $121k/yr over the 369 open jobs with a posted range, and single figures go from $37.4k/yr up to $330k/yr. Interns, technicians and senior engineers all sit in that figure; the table below separates the disciplines.
Measured from 345 distinct posted rates, at this employer, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 144 of the 513 open jobs here state no pay.
The top-paying Rocket Lab jobs open now
Every 513, highest pay firstDirector, RF Payloads (opens the job details)
RF & Payloads · Long Beach, CA · 3d agoDetails
$198,000–$330,000/yrPrincipal Spacecraft GNC Engineer - Secret Clearance (opens the job details)
Flight Software · Long Beach, CA · 1w agoDetails
$198,000–$330,000/yrDirector, Radar Payload (opens the job details)
RF & Payloads · Long Beach, CA · 2mo agoDetails
$198,000–$330,000/yrSenior Director, Business Development - Civil & Commercial (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Chantilly, VA, United States · 1mo agoDetails
$214,000–$321,000/yrSenior Director, Business Development - Civil & Commercial (opens the job details)
Programs & Business · Long Beach, CA · 1mo agoDetails
$214,000–$321,000/yr
The middle half is the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each posted range, as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours, 40 a week for 52 weeks) to the 90th-percentile posted top, measured the same way for every list on the site. A posting's range is base salary only: stock, sign-on money and bonuses are extra where a company offers them. The methodology explains how each pay figure is measured and graded.
What Rocket Lab looks for
The usual bar in each discipline Rocket Lab is staffing right now. A posting can ask for more or less (a clearance, a degree, years on hardware), so check the role itself before applying.
Often no degree: a trade school, apprenticeship or military background, plus certifications such as welding or IPC.
A business, finance, law or engineering degree; program managers often hold a PMP or an engineering background.
A mechanical or aerospace engineering degree; CAD (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks) and FEA analysis for most roles.
Often no degree for logistics and maintenance; buyers and planners usually have business or supply-chain training.
An engineering degree; test technicians often come from the military or a technical program.
A computer science degree or equivalent experience; some programs need a US security clearance.
Rocket Lab's disciplines
Each discipline page covers the work itself, the usual entry bar and the pay posted for it across the industry.
Rocket Lab pay by occupation, from its own postings: RF engineer pay, Software engineer pay, GNC engineer pay, Cybersecurity expert pay, Program manager pay, Electrical engineer pay, Systems engineer pay, Mechanical engineer pay, Propulsion engineer pay, Test engineer pay, Mission operations engineer pay, Manufacturing engineer pay, Quality engineer pay, HR professional pay, Supply chain professional pay, Technician pay.
For the wider picture, open the pay tables for every discipline or the space employers that pay the most.
Rocket Lab sites with openings
A town's page gathers the space roles open there, Rocket Lab's and its neighbours', ranks the busiest employers and points to nearby towns.
Open jobs at Rocket Lab since Jan 2023
How many jobs Rocket Lab's own careers board listed, month by month, counted from the copies the Internet Archive kept of that board, and the same board on 6 Nov 2026. A month with no copy has no point, and each month links to the copy it was counted from.
Jobs on its own careers board
Jan 2023: 204 · low 173 (Aug 2025) · Oct 2026: 585 · today 545
Every month's count
- Jan 2023: 204
- Feb 2023: 209
- Mar 2023: 207
- May 2023: 198
- Jun 2023: 215
- Sep 2023: 210
- Dec 2023: 214
- May 2024: 215
- Jun 2024: 250
- Jul 2024: 261
- Aug 2024: 252
- Sep 2024: 290
- Oct 2024: 336
- Dec 2024: 280
- Jan 2025: 277
- Feb 2025: 253
- Mar 2025: 216
- Apr 2025: 184
- May 2025: 193
- Jun 2025: 179
- Jul 2025: 208
- Aug 2025: 173
- Oct 2025: 258
- Nov 2025: 247
- Dec 2025: 250
- Jan 2026: 280
- Feb 2026: 287
- Mar 2026: 295
- Apr 2026: 263
- Jun 2026: 333
- Jul 2026: 356
- Sep 2026: 506
- Oct 2026: 585
- 6 Nov 2026: 545 (the board today)
Questions about Rocket Lab
How do I apply to Rocket Lab?
Choose a role below and use its Apply button, which opens that posting on Rocket Lab's careers site; the application goes straight to Rocket Lab. Screening, interviews and any offer happen between you and the company, without us.
What does Rocket Lab pay?
Across the 369 open Rocket Lab jobs that give a pay range, the middle of the market is $78k–$230k/yr and the median $121k/yr. The lowest posted figure is $37.4k/yr and the highest $330k/yr. These are base salary ranges as the postings give them; equity, bonuses and relocation help come on top where offered.
Which disciplines is Rocket Lab staffing?
Of its 513 openings, the largest groups are manufacturing & technicians (95), programs & business (73) and mechanical, structures & thermal (50).
What does Rocket Lab ask for in space manufacturing and technician jobs?
Often no degree: a trade school, apprenticeship or military background, plus certifications such as welding or IPC. The exact bar is in each Rocket Lab posting.
How fresh is this list of Rocket Lab roles?
We read Rocket Lab's public careers site every night. A role stays here as long as Rocket Lab keeps it up, dated with our last check.
Companies that compete with Rocket Lab for staff
Space employers recruiting the same disciplines as Rocket Lab, in the same states: who has roles open now, the ranges they post and where their sites are.
All the Rocket Lab alternativesRocket Lab versus similar employers
Choosing between Rocket Lab and a rival? A matchup sets their posted ranges, open jobs and sites next to each other.
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Range given per postinga pay range on 0% of its open roles219 openHiring at Rocket Lab? How space employers put their roles in front of more engineers here.