Vehicle Software Engineer

About the Role

Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology. As a Vehicle Software Engineering Intern, you will help develop software systems for next-generation reentry vehicles. You will work alongside experienced engineers to build, test, and deploy software for spacecraft development, qualification, and mission operations. You will own a meaningful engineering project from requirements and design through implementation, testing, and delivery. Your work may involve flight software, ground systems, hardware integration, or automated testing infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Own a well-scoped software engineering project from requirements definition and technical design through implementation, validation, and deployment.
• Design, develop, and test software that supports spacecraft flight systems, ground operations, or engineering test infrastructure.
• Develop and integrate software with physical hardware, simulation environments, or existing flight and ground software systems.
• Write automated tests and contribute to software verification using unit testing, software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), or processor-in-the-loop (PIL) environments.
• Collaborate with flight software, avionics, simulation, and other engineering teams to solve challenging technical problems.
• Participate in software design reviews, code reviews, debugging, and integration testing.
• Document technical designs, test results, and software functionality, and present your completed project to the engineering team.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Currently pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated software development experience through personal projects, engineering teams, research, open-source contributions, or previous internships.
• Experience programming in at least one language such as C, C++, Rust, or Python.
• Strong understanding of fundamental software engineering concepts, including debugging, testing, data structures, and software design.
• Familiarity with collaborative development tools and practices such as Git, code reviews, or automated testing.
• Strong problem-solving skills, curiosity, and the ability to independently work through unfamiliar technical challenges.
• Ability to communicate technical ideas clearly and collaborate effectively with engineers across disciplines.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience developing software that interacts with physical hardware, embedded systems, or robotics platforms.
• Familiarity with Linux development environments and command-line tooling.
• Experience developing test automation, simulation software, or continuous integration pipelines.
• Familiarity with networking concepts and communication protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, Ethernet, CAN, UART, or SPI.
• Experience with embedded Linux, device drivers, or low-level systems programming.
• Hands-on experience with spacecraft, rocketry, CubeSats, robotics, Formula SAE, autonomous vehicles, or similar engineering projects.

This position requires in-office presence.

California annual base hourly rate: $38-$41.

ITAR Compliance required (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual).