Senior Flight Software Engineer II - Real-Time Space Systems

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 143,000 - 214,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company stock

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Comprehensive medical/dental/vision

Life and disability insurance

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Rocket Lab, a leading space systems company, is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer II to join the Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA. The role focuses on developing flight software for spacecraft and subsystems, including RTOS and embedded Linux environments.

You will write and test software that runs on orbit within weeks, build drivers for IMUs and star trackers, and collaborate across hardware, software, and systems teams to ensure robust, verifiable requirements and mission-ready

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, or equivalent technical degree.
• 8+ years of embedded software development experience.
• Proficiency in C and C++ languages.
• Experience with RTOS or Embedded Linux.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Develop application software to run on RTOS and embedded Linux.
• Create and maintain hardware drivers for IMUs, star trackers, reaction wheels, and sensors.
• Develop unit tests within a CI framework.
• Collaborate with hardware-in-the-loop test engineers to verify software and hardware integration.
• Work with systems and embedded engineers to derive and validate requirements.
• Participate in code reviews and design reviews (PDR/CDR).
• Assist with on-orbit and interplanetary flight operations.

Skills

C/C++ proficiency

RTOS/Embedded Linux

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace/computer/electrical engineering or equivalent

Tools

CAN/CAN-FD

UDP/TCP

Job description

Rocket Lab, a leading space systems company, is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer II to join the Space Systems team in Long Beach, CA. The role focuses on developing flight software for spacecraft and subsystems, including RTOS and embedded Linux environments.

You will write and test software that runs on orbit within weeks, build drivers for IMUs and star trackers, and collaborate across hardware, software, and systems teams to ensure robust, verifiable requirements and mission-ready