Senior Software Engineer

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is an end‑to‑end space company that delivers responsive launch services and builds complete spacecraft, payloads, satellite components, and related technology. The company supports scientific exploration, Earth observation, national security, climate‑change missions, and new technology demonstrations worldwide.

The Space Systems team designs and constructs spacecraft, precision payloads, and the subsystems that enable them to thrive in space—including solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems, and radios. The team has delivered more than 1,700 missions, partnering with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.

Based at our Optical Systems sites in Tucson, AZ, you will support Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) by building deep‑learning neural networks for advanced electro‑optical (EO/IR) technology.

• Collaborate with researchers on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision.
• Rapid prototyping and enhanced development for integration into operational systems.
• Apply programming skills to develop solutions for real‑world problems.
• Validate, tune, test, and deploy advanced neural networks and algorithms.
• Perform troubleshooting, bug fixes, and maintenance of existing and new code to ensure stability.
• Support travel or off‑site work as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in physics, astronomy, mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or an equivalent discipline with 5+ years of experience.
• Experience building deep‑learning neural networks for computer vision, image processing, or video analysis.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance.

• Proficiency in C++ or Python 3.
• Experience with deep‑learning libraries such as PyTorch and Tensor Flow.
• Experience across the deep‑learning life‑cycle: model selection, training, validation, testing, and deployment.
• Understanding of computer‑vision approaches (object detection, image segmentation, re‑identification, tracking, super‑resolution).
• Machine‑learning experience with 3‑D data.
• Experience curating quality, real‑world datasets for training deep‑learning models.

Based in Tucson, AZ. The role may require travel or off‑site work as needed.

Rocket Lab provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.