Mission Dev Engineer

About Nominal

Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.

The Role

We’re looking for students on track to graduate in Summer 2027 or sooner. As a Mission Dev (forward deployed software engineering) engineer at Nominal, you’ll work directly with engineers building and testing complex hardware systems like nuclear reactors, rockets, and supersonic aircraft. You’ll learn how our customers work, understand what’s slowing them down, and build software that helps them move faster. The role combines hands-on software engineering with product judgment: figuring out what to build, shipping it, and working with users to make sure it solves their problem.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with customer engineers to understand their testing and analysis workflows and identify problems you can solve with software
• Design and build integrations, data pipelines, and applications that connect Nominal to our customers’ systems and help them work with high-frequency, high-volume hardware data
• Own projects from understanding the problem through building, deploying, and supporting the solution, with mentorship from experienced engineers and domain experts
• Put working software in users’ hands early, learn from how they use it, and iterate quickly based on their feedback
• Bring what you learn back to our product and engineering teams, helping turn solutions for individual customers into capabilities that benefit many

Qualifications

• Graduating in Summer 2027 or sooner and interested in a full-time position
• Strong core engineering skills and hands-on experience building software, whether through internships, personal projects, or academic work
• Desire to work directly with people using your software and understand whether what you’ve built is making a difference
• Eagerness to work through open-ended problems, learn unfamiliar systems, and figure out what’s needed to get a solution into use
• Personal passion for solving challenging problems and contributing to the future of critical infrastructure
• Ambition, resourcefulness, and perseverance

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.