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Salary: USD 163,500 - 218,000 / annual
Rocket Lab Optical Systems, part of Rocket Lab's Space Systems division, is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design flight software for spacecraft supporting the U.S. Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (Tranche 3). The role is based in Chantilly, VA.
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems for missions ranging from interplanetary exploration to national security and defense. The Space Systems division has enabled over 1,700 missions and has delivered spacecraft and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, working with partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force. Rocket Lab Optical Systems specializes in mission-critical space domain and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) solutions for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers, leveraging over 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems innovation.
In this role, you will play a key role supporting the development of payload flight software for Space Systems programs. Key responsibilities include:
- Design and deploy novel algorithms into austere, Size/Weight/Power-constrained sensor systems
- Lead cross-functional teams to define technical requirements and deliver integrated solutions
- Provide technical leadership across all aspects of 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 core software fundamentals of performance-oriented programming, leveraging a variety of accelerator technologies
- Mentor engineers across experience levels and foster a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement
- Support technical planning, effort estimation, risk identification, dependency management, and milestone delivery
- Communicate technical status and risks to stakeholders
You will be part of a team of driven pioneers tackling challenging projects and delivering solutions that impact the future of space.
**REQUIREMENTS:**
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or computer engineering
- 12+ 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
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or Department of Commerce (ITAR compliance)
**NICE-TO-HAVE QUALIFICATIONS:**
- Familiarity with high-performance and parallel processing
- Exposure to novel architectures including FPGA, CUDA, etc.
- Familiarity with flight software system management
- Experience with algorithm implementation
- Exposure to Python and MATLAB
- Familiarity with numerical computing principles
