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Rocket Lab Corporation

Flight Software Engineer II

Long Beach, CAFrom $145kmidAdded today

About this role

Rocket Lab seeks a Flight Software Engineer II to develop flight software for spacecraft and space systems. You'll design, code, and test real-time embedded applications that fly on orbit within weeks, collaborating across hardware and systems teams on missions ranging from lunar exploration to national security.

What you'll do

  • Develop application software for RTOS and embedded Linux environments
  • Create hardware drivers for spacecraft sensors and actuators (IMUs, star trackers, reaction wheels)
  • Write and maintain unit tests within continuous integration frameworks
  • Collaborate with hardware-in-the-loop engineers on software and hardware validation
  • Participate in design reviews (PDR, CDR) and code reviews
  • Support on-orbit flight operations and interplanetary missions

What they're looking for

  • C and C++ programming
  • Real-time operating systems (RTOS)
  • Embedded Linux
  • Hardware driver development
  • Unit testing and continuous integration
  • Rust (nice to have)
  • CAN/CAN-FD and UDP/TCP networking
  • Systems engineering collaboration

Benefits

  • Equity ownership in the company
  • Competitive base pay
  • Frequent opportunities to test software on orbit
  • Work on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond
  • Collaborate with world-class space systems team
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Rocket Lab Corporation

Rocket Lab builds spacecraft and satellites that it launches on its own rockets, developing the avionics, flight software, and ground systems needed to operate these vehicles in orbit. The company is hiring software engineers, test automation specialists, and spacecraft operations engineers to develop embedded flight software, design testing systems, and manage satellite fleet health across commercial and government missions.

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Likely interview questions

  • Describe your experience developing software for real-time operating systems and how you handled timing constraints.
  • Tell us about a hardware driver you've developed and how you verified it functioned correctly with the target hardware.
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