Senior Ground Software Architect - Space Missions

Rocket Lab Corporation; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee stock purchase program

Competitive medical plans (HMO/PPO)

Dental and vision coverage

Paid vacation and sick time

11 paid holidays

401(k) with company match

Subsidized EV charging

Onsite fitness centers

Discounted gym memberships

Snacks and beverages

Merchandise discount

Job summary

Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Ground Software Engineer I in Long Beach, CA to act as a technical authority for spacecraft ground software across Space Systems missions. You will shape end-to-end ground system architecture, ensuring scalability, reliability, and mission success for internal teams and external customers.

You will partner with flight software and mission ops to translate needs into scalable designs, deploy and optimize the Ground Data System, and establish monitoring and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software development experience.
• Proven track record architecting web-based software systems at scale.
• Strong systems-level thinking balancing performance, security, and maintainability.

Responsibilities

• Own major parts of architecture and evolve Rocket Lab's web-based ground software platforms.
• Partner with flight software, operations, and systems engineers to translate mission needs into scalable designs.
• Deploy, configure, and optimize the Ground Data System for diverse mission profiles.
• Establish robust monitoring, alerting, and reliability frameworks.
• Provide architectural direction and leadership to ensure resilience and maintainability.

Skills

5+ years experience

Web-based architecture

Systems thinking

Technical leadership

Security/compliance awareness

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or technical field

Tools

Git workflows

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Playwright

Job description

Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Ground Software Engineer I in Long Beach, CA to act as a technical authority for spacecraft ground software across Space Systems missions. You will shape end-to-end ground system architecture, ensuring scalability, reliability, and mission success for internal teams and external customers.

You will partner with flight software and mission ops to translate needs into scalable designs, deploy and optimize the Ground Data System, and establish monitoring and