Principal Embedded Software Engineer

Rocket Lab • Tucson, AZ

6d

About The Position

Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company developing rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems. Its Space Systems division builds complete spacecraft, precision payloads, and the components and subsystems that support space missions. Rocket Lab Optical Systems provides space, terrestrial, and airborne sensing solutions for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers. As a Principal Embedded Software Engineer in Tucson, Arizona, you will design flight software for spacecraft supporting Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The role focuses on deploying novel algorithms in austere environments on sensor systems constrained by size, weight, and power.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer engineering.
• 12 or more years of embedded software engineering experience.
• Experience designing complex multithreaded applications.
• Experience designing flight software.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with high-performance and parallel processing.
• Exposure to novel architectures, including FPGA and CUDA.
• Familiarity with flight software system management.
• Experience with algorithm implementation.
• Exposure to Python and MATLAB.
• Familiarity with numerical computing principles.

Responsibilities

• Support development of payload flight software for Space Systems programs.
• Deploy novel algorithms in austere environments on size-, weight-, and power-constrained sensor systems.
• Lead cross-functional teams in defining technical requirements and delivering integrated solutions.
• Provide technical leadership throughout software design and development, from requirements generation through implementation, testing, and deployment.
• Define and influence software architecture, design patterns, interfaces, and technical standards to ensure scalable, maintainable, and extensible solutions.
• Drive performance-oriented programming using a variety of accelerator technologies.
• Mentor engineers across experience levels, provide technical guidance, and promote engineering excellence and continuous improvement.
• Support technical planning, effort estimation, risk identification, dependency management, and milestone delivery.
• Communicate technical status and risks to stakeholders.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal