Backend Software Engineering

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.

We serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, from autonomy leaders like Anduril and Shield AI to next-generation aerospace teams like Hermeus and REGENT, and performance engineering teams like Pratt Miller Motorsports, alongside mission partners within the U.Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn't an option. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence.

We're looking for a Backend Software Engineer ; you'll design and build the distributed infrastructure that powers Nominal's telemetry and validation platform. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy working close to the metal of distributed systems - reasoning about throughput, latency, data models, and failure - and who want to see their work directly enable real-world hardware. You'll own critical backend systems end-to-end, from ingestion pipelines to storage engines to performance tuning in production.

Architect and evolve distributed systems that ingest, process, and persist high-frequency telemetry and sensor data.

Design storage and indexing strategies for large, time-series, and event-driven datasets with strict performance and correctness requirements.

Tackle hard problems around scalability, backpressure, fault tolerance, and data consistency in real-time systems.

Optimize hot paths, reduce tail latency, and improve reliability as the system scales with new customers and use cases.

Collaborate closely with product, infrastructure, and customer-facing engineers to solve domain-specific problems for cutting-edge hardware teams.

Influence backend architecture and technical direction, mentoring teammates, and raising the bar for system design across the org.

3+ years building distributed systems where performance, reliability, and operational simplicity matter.

Strong experience in Go, Rust, or Java, with an emphasis on correctness, clarity, and long-lived systems.

Deep familiarity with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and production tooling like Kubernetes, Docker, and Terraform.

Hands-on experience designing or operating storage systems - time-series databases, columnar formats, or analytics engines (e.g., Experience with streaming or data processing technologies such as Kafka, Apache Arrow, Flink, or Spark.

Clear technical communication and a bias toward ownership: you design it, build it, ship it, and operate it.

100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
• In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
• S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.