Senior Ground Software Engineer

Responsibilities

• Own major parts of architecture and evolve Rocket Lab’s web-based ground software platforms for spacecraft operations
• Partner with flight software developers, mission operations personnel, and systems engineers to translate mission needs into scalable ground system designs
• Deploy, configure, and optimize the Rocket Lab Ground Data System for diverse mission profiles
• Establish robust monitoring, alerting, and reliability frameworks to proactively detect and mitigate issues
• Provide technical direction and architectural guidance to ensure mission resilience, system integration, and long-term maintainability
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on ground software strategy, risk areas, and emerging technologies

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other technical discipline
• 5+ years of relevant work experience in professional software development (Senior I) or 8+ years (Senior II)
• Proven track record architecting web-based software systems at scale
• Strong systems-level thinking and ability to balance technical trade-offs
• U.S. citizenship required
• Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain and maintain one

Preferred Qualifications

• Active TS clearance
• Full-stack development experience (Python, Golang, Rust, TypeScript, Angular)
• Database experience with InfluxDB or PostgreSQL
• Experience with Playwright testing frameworks
• Aerospace background in satellite or launch vehicle ground operations
• Expertise in microservice architectures, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines
• Knowledge of CCSDS standards

About the Company

Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company delivering responsive launch services, complete spacecraft design and manufacturing, payloads, and satellite components to open access to space.