Lead Flight Software Engineer - Space Systems

Space Talent; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Tucson, AZ is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design flight software for spacecraft in support of the U.S. Space Development Agency programs. You will lead cross-functional teams, shape software architecture, and mentor engineers while ensuring performance and reliability in space environments.

Ideal candidates bring 12+ years of embedded software experience, multithreaded design expertise, and the ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering.
• 12+ years of experience in embedded software engineering experience.
• Experience in designing complex multithreaded application.
• Experience designing flight software.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an U.S. Government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Play a key role supporting the development of payload flight software for our Space Systems programs.
• Focus on deployment of novel algorithms into austere environments on Size/Weight/Power constrained sensor systems.
• Lead cross-functional teams to define technical requirements and deliver integrated solutions.
• Provide technical leadership in all aspects of software design and development starting with requirements generation and following through implementation, testing, deployment.
• Define and influence software architecture, design patterns, interfaces, and technical standards to ensure scalable, maintainable, and extensible solutions.
• Drive core software fundamentals of performance-oriented programming leveraging a variety of accelerator technologies.
• Mentor engineers across experience levels, provide technical guidance, and foster a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement.
• Support technical planning, effort estimation, risk identification, dependency management, and milestone delivery while communicating technical status and risks to stakeholders.
• Be part of a team of driven pioneers relentlessly tackling challenging projects, delivering on the impossible, and making an impact on the future of space.

Skills

Embedded software engineering

Multithreaded design

Flight software

Python

MATLAB

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer engineering

Tools

FPGA

CUDA

Job description

Rocket Lab in Tucson, AZ is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design flight software for spacecraft in support of the U.S. Space Development Agency programs. You will lead cross-functional teams, shape software architecture, and mentor engineers while ensuring performance and reliability in space environments.

Ideal candidates bring 12+ years of embedded software experience, multithreaded design expertise, and the ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance.