Software Engineer - Backend

Nominal; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 130,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance

Unlimited PTO and sick leave

Free lunch, snacks, and coffee

Professional Development Stipend

Annual company retreat

Job summary

A technology company in Austin, Texas, is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to develop and maintain high-performance distributed systems processing telemetry data. The role involves designing scalable storage solutions and optimizing system performance. Ideal candidates will have over 4 years of experience with Java, Go, or Rust, and be skilled with cloud services like AWS. The company offers excellent benefits including 100% medical coverage and unlimited PTO.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in building and maintaining distributed systems focused on performance and reliability.
• Strong programming skills in Java, Go, or Rust with a knack for clean code.
• Practical experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP, and familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain distributed systems for processing telemetry and sensor data.
• Design scalable storage solutions for large real-time datasets.
• Enhance system performance and reliability, ensuring smooth operations at scale.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to meet customer requirements.

Skills

Distributed systems

Java

Go

Rust

Cloud services

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Real-time data systems

Distributed databases

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Apache Arrow

Kafka

Spark

Flink

Parquet

Druid

InfluxDB

ClickHouse

TimescaleDB

Job description

About Nominal

Nominal is building the software infrastructure powering the world’s most advanced hardware systems — from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next‑generation industrial machines. Our platform ingests high‑rate telemetry, validates complex autonomy software in real time, and enables engineers to iterate faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We’re a small, fast‑moving team of engineers and operators who own problems end‑to‑end, work across disciplines, and thrive on challenges at the intersection of hardware and software.

As a dual‑use platform, we serve top‑tier commercial and defense customers, including the U.S. Navy, United States Air Force, Shield AI, and Anduril. We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures. Our team draws experience from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies — united by a common mission: enabling hardware engineers to push the boundaries of advanced technology with speed, safety, and precision.

We’re looking for a Backend Software Engineer, where you’ll develop and maintain high‑performance distributed systems for processing and storing telemetry data. You will also help design scalable storage solutions, optimize system performance, and collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver effective data solutions.

🚀 About the role

• Build and maintain distributed systems that process and store telemetry and sensor data.
• Design scalable storage solutions to manage large, real‑time datasets.
• Improve system performance and reliability, making sure everything runs smoothly at scale.
• Work with engineers from other parts of the company to support specific customer needs.
• Help set the technical direction of the backend, sharing your experience to guide early career engineers.
• Stay on top of new developments in data engineering and apply what’s useful to improve our platform.

⚡ Skills that accelerate us

• 4+ years building and maintaining distributed systems with a focus on performance and reliability.
• Strong with languages like Java, Go, or Rust, and comfortable writing clean, maintainable code.
• Practical experience with cloud services (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform.
• Understanding of storage solutions—Parquet, Druid, InfluxDB, ClickHouse, TimescaleDB, or similar—and experience with real‑time data and telemetry systems.
• Familiarity with technologies like Apache Arrow, Kafka, Spark, or Flink, plus experience with distributed databases.
• Ability to explain your ideas clearly to others, whether they’re technical or non‑technical.

✨ Benefits/Perks

• 🏥 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 🏖️ Unlimited PTO and sick leave
• 🍽️ Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
• 🚀 Professional Development Stipend
• ✈️ Annual company retreat

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

ITAR Requirements

• 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.

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $130,000 – $230,000 per year.