Lead Software Engineer

### Who you are
- 6+ years of professional software development experience with a mastery of Python and modern asynchronous frameworks like FastAPI, utilizing Pydantic or JSON Schema for rigorous data modeling
- Expertise in relational database design, including a proven ability to manage complex schemas and model intricate dependencies without sacrificing performance
- A track record of building mission-critical RESTful APIs that serve as a high-integrity, scalable source of truth for diverse consumers
- 1+ years of experience leading or mentoring engineering teams, including managing sprints and conducting high-standard design and code reviews
- Experience thriving in high-velocity environments where data changes rapidly, maintaining composure and data integrity even under the pressure of tight mission deadlines
- Domain expertise in aerospace or complex manufacturing, particularly working with PLM systems or configuration management for complex electromechanical systems (e.g., automotive, defense, or industrial automation)
- Experience with modern full-stack web development, specifically using Jamstack architectures to build responsive internal data exploration tools
- Familiarity with modern DevOps practices, including Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD, to ensure configuration systems remain highly available during critical launch windows
- Strong systems engineering aptitude, with the ability to translate physical hardware constraints into logical, rigorous data models
- A demonstrated ability to act as a cross-functional "bridge," translating the specific technical jargon of various engineering silos into a unified, functional system

### What the job involves
- 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
- As the Lead Engineer for our vehicle configuration system, you will be the primary architect and steward of the data that defines our flight hardware
- You will lead a high-impact team to aggregate disparate data streams from across the company into a single, high-integrity relational source of truth. Your work ensures that every department—from propulsion to avionics—is operating from the same validated configuration
- Work with engineering and operations teams across the company to understand the structure of their configuration data and how it integrates into the vehicle. You will become a subject matter expert in how manufacturing, propulsion, avionics, GNC, and networking data enables Terran R to fly
- Build and optimize pipelines to ingest, clean, and normalize complex configuration data from multiple departmental silos
- Lead the development of high-performance REST APIs using Python and FastAPI to expose this data to the rest of the organization
- Guide the development of lightweight web interfaces and Jamstack frontends that allow non-technical stakeholders to explore and audit data
- Partner with test and systems engineering teams to rapidly generate updated configurations for validation and deployment. Change is the only constant; configurations will evolve right up to the hours before launch

### Benefits
- Health, dental, and vision coverage
- Additional stipend for employee wellness
- 401(k)
- Equity
- 11 company holidays & generous PTO
- Monthly lunches, game nights, holiday celebrations, and offsite events
- Generous parental leave and provide a $10,000 stipend for fertility, adoption, and other family-building benefits
- $2,000 annual learning stipend
- Constant training opportunities, company Lunch and Learns, and access to industry conferences