Mission Dev Engineer - Internship (Summer 2027)

Nominal; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentorship

Trips to co-locate with team

Free meals / snacks / drinks

Swag bag

Hardware lab stipend

Job summary

Nominal seeks a Summer 2027 internship with forward‑deployed software engineering exposure for students graduating Summer 2028 or sooner. You’ll work directly with engineers building and testing complex hardware systems like nuclear reactors, rockets, and supersonic aircraft.

You’ll learn customer workflows and build software to move them faster. The role blends hands‑on software engineering with product judgment: decide what to build, ship it, and ensure it solves real customer problems with

Qualifications

• On track to graduate by Summer 2028 and pursuing a field related to engineering or computer science.
• Strong foundation in engineering fundamentals with practical software development exposure.
• Shows ability to work with hardware and software in a project setting.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with customer engineers to understand testing and analysis workflows.
• Design and build integrations, data pipelines, and apps connecting Nominal to customer systems.
• Own projects end-to-end from problem understanding to deployment and support.
• Deliver working software early, learn usage patterns, and iterate quickly.
• Bring learnings to product and engineering teams to scale solutions.

Skills

Strong core engineering skills

Hands-on software engineering

Experience building software

Job description

About Nominal

Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.

About Nominal

Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.

We serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, from autonomy leaders like Anduril and Shield AI to next-generation aerospace teams like Hermeus and REGENT, and performance engineering teams like Pratt Miller Motorsports, alongside mission partners within the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn’t an option. We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence.

The role

We’re looking for students with solid engineering fundamentals interested in a Summer 2027 internship and on track to graduate in Summer 2028 or sooner. As a Mission Dev (forward deployed software engineering) intern at Nominal, you’ll work directly with engineers building and testing complex hardware systems like nuclear reactors, rockets, and supersonic aircraft. You’ll learn how our customers work, understand what’s slowing them down, and build software that helps them move faster. The role combines hands‑on software engineering with product judgment: figuring out what to build, shipping it, and working with users to make sure it solves their problem.

What you’ll do

• Work directly with customer engineers to understand their testing and analysis workflows and identify problems you can solve with software
• Design and build integrations, data pipelines, and applications that connect Nominal to our customers’ systems and help them work with high-frequency, high-volume hardware data
• Own projects from understanding the problem through building, deploying, and supporting the solution, with mentorship from experienced engineers and domain experts
• Put working software in users’ hands early, learn from how they use it, and iterate quickly based on their feedback
• Bring what you learn back to our product and engineering teams, helping turn solutions for individual customers into capabilities that benefit many

Reach out if…

• You’re on track to graduate by Summer 2028 and are open to a full‑time role afterward
• You have strong core engineering skills and hands‑on experience building software, whether through internships, personal projects, or academic work
• You want to work directly with the people using your software and understand whether what you’ve built is making a difference
• You’re excited to work through open‑ended problems, learn unfamiliar systems, and figure out what’s needed to get a solution into use
• You have a personal passion for solving challenging problems and contributing to the future of critical infrastructure
• Your peers would describe you as ambitious, resourceful, and perseverant

Benefits/Perks

• Receive mentorship from our world‑class team
• Trips to co‑locate with the team across our different offices
• Free lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks
• A beginning‑of‑internship swag bag and an end‑of‑internship intern gift
• In‑office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C.

• 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C.
• 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.