Lead Flight Software Engineer, Space Systems

Rocket Lab Corporation; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for its Optical Systems division in Tucson, AZ to design flight software for spacecraft and support Tranche 3 of the SDA Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The role emphasizes implementing high-performance, multithreaded code in space-grade environments and mentoring a team of engineers.

You will lead architecture discussions, drive software standards, and coordinate with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, scalable solutions

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering.
• 12+ years of embedded software engineering experience.
• Experience in designing complex multithreaded applications.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a 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.

Skills

Embedded software engineering

Multithreading design

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer engineering

Job description

Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for its Optical Systems division in Tucson, AZ to design flight software for spacecraft and support Tranche 3 of the SDA Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The role emphasizes implementing high-performance, multithreaded code in space-grade environments and mentoring a team of engineers.

You will lead architecture discussions, drive software standards, and coordinate with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, scalable solutions