Let’s get started
By clicking ‘Next’, I agree to the Terms of Service
and Privacy Policy, and consent to receive emails from Rise
Jobs / Job page
Software Engineer – Systems & Real-Time (RTOS / HIL) image - Rise Careers
Job details

Software Engineer – Systems & Real-Time (RTOS / HIL)

About Nominal


Nominal is building the software infrastructure that powers the world’s most advanced hardware systems — from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation industrial machines. Our platform ingests high-rate telemetry, validates complex autonomy software in real time, and helps engineering teams iterate faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We’re a small, fast-moving team of engineers and operators who own problems end-to-end, work across disciplines, and thrive on solving challenges at the intersection of hardware and software. As a dual-use platform, we're serving top-tier commercial and defense customers, including the U.S. Navy, United States Air Force, Shield AI, and Anduril.


We’re backed by top-tier investors — Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures — who share our mission to accelerate innovation in mission-critical systems. Our team brings experience from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies, united by a common goal: enabling hardware engineers to push the boundaries of advanced technology with speed, safety, and precision.


As a Systems-Level Software Engineer, you’ll architect and implement the real-time backbone of Nominal’s test automation and simulation platform. You’ll work across the full stack of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems, from deterministic task scheduling and bus I/O to distributed telemetry and timing synchronization — ensuring our software behaves predictably under the tightest latency budgets. If you thrive at the boundary between software and the physical world — where timing matters as much as correctness, this role is for you.


🚀 About the Role
  • Design and implement hard real-time components for data acquisition, control, and simulation using C++ and/or Rust.
  • Develop deterministic communication layers for CAN, EtherCAT, serial, and MIL-STD-1553 or similar field buses.
  • Architect the core HIL runtime, including task schedulers, timing controllers, and synchronization primitives.
  • Integrate with embedded targets, flight computers, and sensor networks to validate autonomy and control software.
  • Collaborate with our infrastructure and visualization teams to connect real-time execution with distributed telemetry, playback, and analysis pipelines.
  • Profile, benchmark, and harden low-latency systems to meet microsecond-level timing guarantees.
  • Establish testing and verification standards for real-time correctness and timing determinism across the platform.


⚡ Skills That Accelerate Us
  • 4+ years of systems-level or embedded software development in C++ (C++17 or newer) or Rust, with a deep understanding of real-time constraints and deterministic scheduling.
  • Experience with RTOSs such as QNX, RTEMS, FreeRTOS, VxWorks, or Linux PREEMPT-RT.
  • Background in HIL or SIL testing, real-time control loops, or simulation frameworks for aerospace, automotive, or robotics.
  • Strong grasp of hardware interfaces, timing jitter, interrupt handling, and low-level I/O.
  • Familiarity with signal acquisition, control systems, and sensor fusion concepts.
  • Bonus: experience with LabVIEW, NI TestStand, PXI/DAQ systems, or integration with external test equipment.
  • Bonus: knowledge of time-synchronized networking (PTP/NTP), DDS, or real-time middleware (ROS 2, RTI Connext).
  • Ability to debug at multiple layers — from driver-level to distributed telemetry — and to reason clearly about timing and causality.


✨ Benefits/Perks
  • 🏥 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • 🏖️ Unlimited PTO and sick leave
  • 🍽️ Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
  • 🚀 Professional Development Stipend
  • ✈️ Annual company retreat


$120,000 - $150,000 a year
This wide band reflects the range of experience levels we’re open to, from 2 years to 15+ years. Your specific compensation will be determined on a case-by-case basis, factoring in your skills, experience, and the level at which you join. OTE includes both base salary and performance-based commissions. In addition to cash compensation, eligible employees receive competitive equity grants in the form of stock options, providing the opportunity to share in Nominal’s long-term success.

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.

Nominal Glassdoor Company Review
5.0 Glassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star icon
Nominal DE&I Review
5.0 Glassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star iconGlassdoor star icon
CEO of Nominal
Nominal CEO photo
Unknown name
Approve of CEO

Average salary estimate

$135000 / YEARLY (est.)
min
max
$120000K
$150000K

If an employer mentions a salary or salary range on their job, we display it as an "Employer Estimate". If a job has no salary data, Rise displays an estimate if available.

Similar Jobs
Posted 24 minutes ago

Develop high-performance real-time 2D/3D visualization and UI systems in Rust (Bevy, WebGPU, egui) to bring live telemetry and simulation data to life for mission-critical hardware engineering teams.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 11 hours ago

Cape is hiring a Site Reliability Engineer to build and operate privacy-focused telecommunications infrastructure, improve system reliability and monitoring, and own FedRAMP accreditation for a fast-growing, mission-driven startup.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 14 hours ago

Secure cloud and front-end applications as an Application Security Engineer, leading GitLab administration, vulnerability remediation, and micro-frontend security for a US-remote engineering organization.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 17 hours ago

Remote ServiceNow Software Engineer needed to develop and maintain ServiceNow applications and integrations supporting mission-critical healthcare technology systems.

Lead architecture and scaling of an AI-native platform at an early-stage healthcare AI startup focused on automating prior authorizations and improving patient outcomes.

Photo of the Rise User

Sprinter Health is hiring a Senior Software Engineer on the Logistics Optimization team to build scalable routing, scheduling, and forecasting systems that power in‑home care delivery.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 17 hours ago

Lead three ERP platform teams at SunSource to drive development, integration, and continuous improvement of ERP solutions across distribution, inventory, finance, and supply chain functions.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 17 hours ago
Customer-Centric
Mission Driven
Inclusive & Diverse
Rise from Within
Diversity of Opinions
Work/Life Harmony
Growth & Learning
Transparent & Candid
Medical Insurance
Paid Time-Off
Maternity Leave
Mental Health Resources
Equity
Child Care stipend
Paternity Leave
WFH Reimbursements
Flex-Friendly
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life insurance
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
401K Matching
Military leave

Lead technical customer engineering and architectural design for NVIDIA's BlueField and ConnectX AI networking products to enable scalable, hardware-accelerated networking solutions.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 15 hours ago

Lead the architecture and delivery of high-scale blockchain and network protocols in a remote-first environment, driving technical roadmaps and mentoring engineers across teams.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 17 hours ago
Customer-Centric
Mission Driven
Inclusive & Diverse
Rise from Within
Diversity of Opinions
Work/Life Harmony
Growth & Learning
Transparent & Candid
Medical Insurance
Paid Time-Off
Maternity Leave
Mental Health Resources
Equity
Child Care stipend
Paternity Leave
WFH Reimbursements
Flex-Friendly
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life insurance
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
401K Matching
Military leave

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior Software Engineer to design and build cloud-native data management services for high-performance, GPU-driven training and inference at exabyte scale.

Posted 3 hours ago

Help shape Softlight’s product and AI infrastructure as a founding engineer focused on building novel models and shipping product features for PMs, designers, and engineers.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 17 hours ago

Lead and scale Kaseya's SASE engineering organization as Senior Director of Software Engineering, delivering multitenant cloud security and proxy services while driving roadmap, reliability, and operational excellence.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 8 hours ago

Experienced Android Developer needed to build feature-rich Kotlin/Java apps using modern architectures and testing practices for a fully remote US-based role.

Photo of the Rise User
Posted 14 hours ago

Lead and mentor remote engineering teams to deliver secure, resilient desktop (C++) and cloud backend solutions for a globally deployed, security-focused product.

Ignite the next industrial revolution‍We equip engineering teams with tools to rapidly deploy resilient systems to explore, protect, connect, and power the world. Our platform informs rapid and reliable decisions in the most critical moments.

7 jobs
MATCH
Calculating your matching score...
FUNDING
SENIORITY LEVEL REQUIREMENT
TEAM SIZE
No info
EMPLOYMENT TYPE
Full-time, unknown
DATE POSTED
October 21, 2025
Risa star 🔮 Hi, I'm Risa! Your AI
Career Copilot
Want to see a list of jobs tailored to
you, just ask me below!