Lead Spaceflight Software Architect (TS/SCI)

Rocketlab; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Cash incentives

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid vacation and holidays

Job summary

Rocket Lab—an end-to-end space company—seeks a Principal Software Engineer in Littleton, CO, to lead the design, development, and delivery of mission-critical software for space systems. You will work on flight and ground software, embedded platforms, and satellite hardware integration, requiring an active TS/SCI clearance and US citizenship.

You’ll drive architecture, develop RTOS-based software, and mentor teams to ensure reliable operations across missions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or a related technical discipline.
• 12+ years of professional software development experience, including embedded systems and ground software.
• Proven expertise in architecting scalable and reliable software systems for aerospace or defense applications.
• Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded software development and Python for testing.
• Experience with CAN/CAN-FD, SpaceWire, and UDP/TCP protocols.
• Experience with integrating hardware and debugging.
• Active TS/SCI clearance and U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Lead software architecture design for flight and ground systems to ensure scalability, reliability, security, and mission success.
• Develop flight software for RTOS environments (VxWorks, embedded Linux) and hardware drivers for sensors like IMUs and star trackers.
• Build ground software platforms and integrate flight/ground systems for diverse missions.
• Create unit tests within CI frameworks and collaborate with hardware-in-the-loop testers.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to engineering teams and align software with mission requirements.
• Support on-orbit operations with robust software performance in harsh environments.

Skills

Software architecture

Embedded systems

C/C++

Python

CAN/CAN-FD

SpaceWire

UDP/TCP

Git workflows

CI/CD

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science

Advanced degree (nice to have)

Tools

VxWorks

embedded Linux

SpaceWire

CAN/CAN-FD

Golang/Rust

Typescript/Angular

Job description

Rocket Lab—an end-to-end space company—seeks a Principal Software Engineer in Littleton, CO, to lead the design, development, and delivery of mission-critical software for space systems. You will work on flight and ground software, embedded platforms, and satellite hardware integration, requiring an active TS/SCI clearance and US citizenship.

You’ll drive architecture, develop RTOS-based software, and mentor teams to ensure reliable operations across missions.