Team Lead - Thermofluids Analysis

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is a full-service space company that provides responsive launch solutions, spacecraft engineering and manufacturing, payloads, satellite parts, and related capabilities, all aimed at broadening access to space. Its rockets and satellites support a wide range of missions worldwide, including scientific research, Earth observation, climate-focused missions, national security, and advanced technology demonstrations.

The Electron launch vehicle has grown into one of the most frequently launched rockets in the U.S. each year and has already placed more than 230 satellites into orbit. At the same time, Rocket Lab is advancing Neutron, its reusable medium-lift launch vehicle designed for larger satellite constellation deployment. The Space Systems division develops and manufactures a broad portfolio of satellites, payloads, and components, including hardware selected for NASA missions to the Moon and Mars and parts used on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Rocket Lab’s Neutron program is building the new large rocket, along with its launch and test infrastructure. The team works across vehicle structures, components, engines, pads, and test sites, offering the chance to contribute to the first launch campaign for a brand-new large launch vehicle.

Role Overview

As Team Lead - Thermofluids Analysis at Rocket Lab’s Auckland site, you will guide a team of thermofluids analysts supporting analysis, design verification, and ongoing improvements across launch vehicles, space systems, and space components. This role requires strong professional leadership, the ability to set standards, keep work moving productively, and ensure deadlines and objectives are consistently achieved.

Key Responsibilities

You will carry out advanced thermofluids work for launch and space hardware, collaborate with design and test teams, establish analysis practices, and support the growth of team members through coaching and mentorship.

What Success Looks Like

• Performing detailed thermofluids studies for launch vehicles and space systems, including CFD for hypersonic and subsonic aerodynamics, internal fluid networks with compressible and incompressible flow, and heat transfer across conduction, convection, and radiation modes.
• Partnering with design and test engineers to refine concepts, evaluate flight and ground test data, confirm vehicle performance, and investigate anomalies using physics-based reasoning and data analysis.
• Setting technical direction by reviewing peer work, defining analysis approaches, recording best practices, and helping establish qualification test levels while coordinating knowledge exchange across international teams.
• Coaching junior analysts, creating learning opportunities, supporting performance plans, and modeling the kind of professional behavior and constructive team engagement expected in the role.

Experience and Qualifications

You should hold an advanced engineering qualification in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a closely related field, and bring at least 5 years of industry experience from Aerospace, Automotive, or Marine environments. A strong grounding in physics and first-principles problem solving is essential.

The role calls for expert-level CFD and thermal modeling capability, along with practical experience using tools such as Fluent, CFX, STAR-CCM+, Thermal Desktop, THERMICA, or NX SST. You should also be able to validate and clearly document complex analyses.

Strong technical capability is needed in NX CAD/Teamcenter or similar systems, sensor selection, post-processing of data, and engineering programming in Python, including numpy, pandas, scipy, and matplotlib.

You must be comfortable delivering under pressure, adapting to shifting deadlines, building strong working relationships across functions, and communicating clearly through written reports and presentations.

Nice-to-Have Experience

Additional value will be placed on candidates with structural analysis knowledge, familiarity with aerospace qualification standards such as MIL-STD-1540, GSFC-STD-7000, ECSS-E-HB-32, or NASA-STD-5001, awareness of conventional machining and additive manufacturing, and prior experience mentoring junior engineers.

Working Style

This environment rewards determination, teamwork, resilience, and a strong bias toward execution. The work is fast paced, deadline-driven, and highly collaborative, with an expectation that team members support one another and stay focused on delivery.

Important Information

Candidates applying for U.S. office roles must meet U.S. government export control requirements under ITAR and related regulations. Eligible statuses include U.S. citizenship, U.S. lawful permanent residency, refugee or asylum status, or eligibility for the necessary U.S. Department of State and/or Commerce authorizations.

Rocket Lab is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate or tolerate harassment based on protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other legally protected traits.

For applicants needing reasonable accommodation for the U.S. application or interview process, a dedicated contact is provided in the source notice for disability-related assistance.

For New Zealand roles, background checks are completed before any offer is made. These checks include nationality verification because access to regulated equipment and data under ITAR is a requirement for the position. Candidates may be ineligible if they do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a NATO country, or if they have an ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.