Principal Software Engineer - TS/SCIActive$260K

Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company delivering responsive launch services, complete spacecraft design and manufacturing, payloads, satellite components, and more – all with the goal of opening access to space. The rockets and satellites we build and launch enable some of…

What you'll do

• Lead Software Architecture Design: Define and evolve the end-to-end software architecture for flight and ground systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, security, and mission success.

• Develop Flight Software: Design application software for spacecraft operating within Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) such as VxWorks, or embedded Linux, including hardware drivers for spacecraft sensors and actuators such as IMUs, Star Trackers, and Reaction Wheels.

• Build Ground Software Systems: Architect and deploy web-based ground software platforms for spacecraft operations, integrating flight and ground systems to support diverse mission profiles.

• Test and Validate Systems: Develop unit tests within a Continuous Integration (CI) framework and collaborate with hardware-in-the-loop test engineers to verify combined software and hardware functionality.

• Collaborate and Lead: Provide technical direction and mentorship to engineering teams, act as a trusted advisor to leadership, and partner with stakeholders to align software systems with mission requirements.

• Support On-Orbit Operations: Ensure software performance in harsh environments and contribute to mission-critical operations.

What they're looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or a related technical discipline.
• + years of professional software development experience, including embedded systems and ground software.
• Proven expertise in architecting scalable and reliable software systems for aerospace or defense applications.
• Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded software development and python for testing.