Senior Ground Software Engineer – Space Systems

rocketlab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee stock purchase program

Stock options

Competitive base pay and benefits

Top-tier medical plans (HMO, PPO) and

HSA company contribution

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior Ground Software Engineer I to shape spacecraft ground software architecture. You will collaborate with flight software, mission operations, and systems engineers to design scalable ground systems and ensure mission resilience.

You will deploy and optimize the Ground Data System, implement monitoring, and provide architectural guidance to leadership on strategy and risk areas. A confidential clearance is valued with space-domain experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or other technical discipline.
• 5+ years of relevant work experience in professional software development.
• Proven track record architecting web-based software systems at scale.
• Strong systems-level thinking, with ability to balance technical trade-offs across performance, security, and maintainability.
• U.S. citizenship is required, due to program requirements.
• Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain and maintain one.

Responsibilities

• Own major parts of architecture and evolve Rocket Lab's web-based ground software platforms for spacecraft operations.
• Partner with flight software developers, mission operations personnel, and systems engineers to translate mission needs into scalable ground system designs.
• Deploy, configure, and optimize the Rocket Lab Ground Data System for diverse mission profiles.
• Establish robust monitoring, alerting, and reliability frameworks to proactively detect and mitigate issues.
• Provide technical direction and architectural guidance to ensure mission resilience, system integration, and long‑term maintainability.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on ground software strategy, risk areas, and emerging technologies.

Skills

5+ years experience in software

Web-based systems architecture

Systems-level thinking

U.S. citizenship

Active security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related technical field

Tools

Python

Golang

Rust

TypeScript

Angular

InfluxDB

PostgreSQL

Playwright

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Git workflows

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior Ground Software Engineer I to shape spacecraft ground software architecture. You will collaborate with flight software, mission operations, and systems engineers to design scalable ground systems and ensure mission resilience.

You will deploy and optimize the Ground Data System, implement monitoring, and provide architectural guidance to leadership on strategy and risk areas. A confidential clearance is valued with space-domain experience.