Senior Software Engineer, Vehicle Software Infrastructure

About the Team:

Relativity Space is on a mission to better connect humanity to space and the universe beyond our planet. With decades of experience scaling world-class technology organizations like Google, CEO Eric Schmidt is guiding Relativity into its next phase: advancing Terran R toward launch and building the foundation for long-term impact.

The Vehicle Software team develops the safety-critical software that runs on Terran R. The work spans a distributed, real-time control system operating under extreme conditions like Mach 5 atmospheric flight, with a deployment pace that allows you to see your code run on rocket engines daily. The team is building new system architecture from the ground up and just as importantly, testing, releasing, and deploying it. You don't need an aerospace background: what matters is experience with high-reliability software for complex systems. This is a rare opportunity to shape the foundation of Terran R's software stack while directly influencing performance, reliability, and flight success.

About the Role:

• Design, develop, and maintain mission-critical, Linux-based infrastructure supporting command, telemetry, simulation, and automated test systems.
• Build and extend tools for executing tests across a range of environments, including virtual machines, HIL/SIL configurations, and vehicle-in-the-loop setups.
• Optimize system performance and reliability, with a focus on real-time, high-throughput data processing in Linux environments.
• Contribute to architectural decisions, sprint planning, and roadmap discussions to ensure scalable, maintainable systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including avionics, ground software, and flight software to ensure smooth integration and operational readiness.
• Mentor peers, share best practices, and help foster a culture of engineering excellence across the team.

About You:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including systems or infrastructure-level development.
• Proficiency in Rust and/or Python, with strong understanding of performance, concurrency, and systems-level programming.
• Experience developing in Linux environments, including working with real-time or performance-critical systems.
• Strong foundation in networking concepts (e.g., TCP/UDP, sockets, packet routing, protocol design)
• Experience building or maintaining reliable, testable software in CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to design and deliver robust solutions for low-latency, high-throughput data pipelines.

Nice to haves but not required:

• Experience developing or working with software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), or real-time simulation systems.
• Familiarity with real-time Linux kernel tuning, system observability, or performance debugging.
• Experience building tools for command and telemetry injection, test automation, or avionics/hardware development environments.
• Exposure to robotics, aerospace, embedded systems, or other mission-critical domains.
• Ability to lead technical investigations and contribute to architectural decisions in cross-functional teams.
• Background working on distributed systems, large-scale simulation environments, or hybrid software/hardware testing systems.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, especially working closely with hardware, embedded, and flight software teams.