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Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems. The Operational Data team sits between data collection and data exploitation, building services, tools, and pipelines that turn raw data into real value across the business.
The Senior Software Engineer – Data Engineering role is based in Auckland, NZ, and centers on back-end software engineering with APIs and services at its core. You will design, build, and deploy the APIs, services, data pipelines, and tools that help teams across Rocket Lab index, retrieve, visualize, and act on their data.
This is a senior individual contributor role with significant technical influence. You will approve code reviews and architecture designs, help set the team's technical standards, mentor junior engineers, and serve as deputy for the Data Engineering Team Lead when needed.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and develop APIs, services, and tools supporting data indexing, retrieval, visualization, and process automation
- Build and maintain data pipelines for engineering and reporting purposes
- Develop new software and maintain existing software and tooling to approved standards, ensuring thorough testing and documentation
- Review and approve merge requests and software architecture designs; help establish technical standards
- Develop, review, and approve software requirements; lead trade studies to support technical decisions
- Refine and prioritize the product backlog; facilitate agile activities (stand-ups, retrospectives, sprint planning)
- Work with stakeholders to demonstrate, deploy, and support operational software; train end users
- Coach and mentor junior engineers
Domestic and international travel may be required.
QUALIFICATIONS (Required):
- Tertiary qualification in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent demonstrated knowledge
- 5+ years' experience in software engineering discipline
- Strong Python development experience, including designing and building REST APIs and services
- Experience with data tools such as Pandas and NumPy, as well as ETL pipelines and SQL
- Strong database knowledge, including designing and working with relational databases
- Experience with CI/CD, containerization, Git, and issue trackers (Jira or Redmine)
- Experience with agile development practices
- Team player with positive attitude and judgment to find the right solution
- Strong communication skills and ability to plan, prioritize, and ship on time
QUALIFICATIONS (Nice to Have):
- Experience with Kubernetes
- Experience with data visualization
- Experience with data science and numerical analysis techniques
- Experience with web application and user interface development
- Experience as a technical lead or mentor to other engineers
IMPORTANT: For New Zealand office positions, background checks will be undertaken prior to employment offers. Due to ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) compliance, you may be ineligible if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a NATO member country, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.
