Mission Operations Engineer - New Grad (Summer 2027)
Operations · Full-time
Los Angeles, CA, USA · New York, NY, USA
Posted on Oct 9, 2026
Mission Operations Engineer - New Grad (Summer 2027)
New York, NY • Los Angeles, CA
Mission Operations
In office
Full-time
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.
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.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn’t an option. We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed. 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.
The role
We’re looking for students with solid engineering fundamentals on track to graduate in Summer 2027 or sooner.
As a Mission Ops Engineer, you'll be the person on the ground helping customers deploy Nominal's platform into their test and operations environments — propulsion test stands, satellite mission ops, flight test, and similar high-stakes settings. You'll train users, troubleshoot issues in real time, and build the relationships that turn a deployment into a long-term partnership.
🚀 What you’ll do
- Write code to ingest and normalize customer data from test stands, DAQs, telemetry streams, and other hardware sources
- Build custom apps, dashboards, and workflows on Nominal's platform for each customer's specific needs
- Own outcomes for a set of customer accounts: run discovery to understand their test problems, then deliver solutions that stick
- Build trusted relationships with engineers and operators, and train their teams as they bring Nominal into daily use
- Debug issues across the stack in real time, and know when to solve something yourself versus pull in the broader team
- Turn patterns you see across customers into clear input for the product and engineering teams
🎯 Reach out if…
- You're graduating in Summer 2027 or sooner and are interested in a full-time position
- You have hands-on experience with hardware systems — test stands, robotics, aerospace, automotive, or similar — through internships, personal projects, research, or coursework
- You can write code (Python or similar) to work with real-world data, whether that's parsing sensor logs, building data pipelines, or automating analysis
- You communicate clearly and can explain technical ideas to people who aren't engineers
- You're comfortable working through open-ended problems in unfamiliar environments
- You're willing to travel occasionally to be on-site with customers
- You have a genuine interest in hardware testing and the industries Nominal serves
⚡ Bonus
- Experience with data acquisition or hardware tools (DAQs, LabVIEW, MATLAB/Simulink) or data tools (SQL, Python, Pandas, Grafana)
- Prior customer-facing, account management, or technical support experience
✨ Benefits/Perks
- 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Unlimited PTO and sick leave
- Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
- Professional Development Stipend
- 401k Plan
- In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
- Annual company retreat
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
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. Learn more about the ITAR here.
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This position requires access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls. Are you any of the following “protected individual(s)” as defined in the Immigration and Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)? *
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New Grad 2027 Application Questions : What is your preferred programming language for interviews? *
New Grad 2027 Application Questions : Do you have any pending offers or deadlines we should know about? If so, what companies and dates? *
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New Grad 2027 Application Questions : Tell us about a challenge, professional or personal, that stretched you. What did you do, and what did you take away from it? *
New Grad 2026 Application Questions : Why are you interested in Nominal? We want to know why you want to work here and what skills you hope to develop in your first full-time role out of school, a great answer is around 100 words max. Feel free to reference specific things about our product, mission, or team. *
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To comply with government reporting requirements, we invite candidates to participate in the self-identification survey below. Your completion of this form is entirely optional, and your decision will neither influence the hiring process nor any subsequent stages. Any information you choose to share will be kept confidential and stored in a secure file. As outlined in our Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we uphold a commitment to non-discrimination based on any protected group status specified in applicable laws.
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A veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military and is entitled to disability compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to disability compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disabilityRecently separated veteran
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Req ID: R153