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Nominal builds software that lets hardware teams test, iterate, and deploy as fast as software teams.
The Role
Mission Dev interns build forward-deployed software for complex hardware systems. Responsibilities include understanding customer testing workflows, developing integrations, data pipelines, and applications for high-volume hardware data, owning projects from discovery through deployment and support, iterating based on user feedback, and sharing customer insights with product and engineering teams.
Summary Generated by Built In
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 interested in a Summer 2027 internship and on track to graduate in Summer 2028 or sooner.
As a Mission Dev (forward deployed software engineering) intern at Nominal, you’ll work directly with engineers building and testing complex hardware systems like nuclear reactors, rockets, and supersonic aircraft. You’ll learn how our customers work, understand what’s slowing them down, and build software that helps them move faster. The role combines hands-on software engineering with product judgment: figuring out what to build, shipping it, and working with users to make sure it solves their problem.
🚀 What you’ll do
- Work directly with customer engineers to understand their testing and analysis workflows and identify problems you can solve with software
- Design and build integrations, data pipelines, and applications that connect Nominal to our customers’ systems and help them work with high-frequency, high-volume hardware data
- Own projects from understanding the problem through building, deploying, and supporting the solution, with mentorship from experienced engineers and domain experts
- Put working software in users’ hands early, learn from how they use it, and iterate quickly based on their feedback
- Bring what you learn back to our product and engineering teams, helping turn solutions for individual customers into capabilities that benefit many
🎯 Reach out if…
- You’re on track to graduate by Summer 2028 and are open to a full-time role afterward
- You have strong core engineering skills and hands-on experience building software, whether through internships, personal projects, or academic work
- You want to work directly with the people using your software and understand whether what you’ve built is making a difference
- You’re excited to work through open-ended problems, learn unfamiliar systems, and figure out what’s needed to get a solution into use
- You have a personal passion for solving challenging problems and contributing to the future of critical infrastructure
- Your peers would describe you as ambitious, resourceful, and perseverant
✨ Benefits/Perks
- Receive mentorship from our world-class team
- Trips to co-locate with the team across our different offices
- Free lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks
- A beginning-of-internship swag bag and an end-of-internship intern gift
- In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
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.
Skills Required
- Must be on track to graduate by Summer 2028 or sooner
- Strong core engineering skills
- Hands-on software development experience through internships, personal projects, or academic work
- Interest in working directly with software users and evaluating product impact
- Ability to solve open-ended problems and learn unfamiliar systems
- Authorization under ITAR requirements: U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations
Nominal Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Nominal and has not been reviewed or approved by Nominal.
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Healthcare Strength — 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage is repeatedly described as covering both employees and dependents, indicating unusually strong healthcare provisioning. Additional mentions of “Platinum” coverage reinforce the sense of a high-tier plan offering.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Unlimited PTO and paid holidays/sick time are presented as part of the core package, suggesting broad time-off benefits on paper. Parental leave is also framed as fully paid in several places, reinforcing overall leave breadth.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellness stipends, daily gourmet lunch (and sometimes dinner), and periodic retreats are consistently highlighted as meaningful lifestyle perks. Learning/development and other small stipends further round out a perks-heavy total rewards posture.
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The Company
What We Do
Nominal builds the essential software stack that enables hardware teams to test and iterate as rapidly as software teams. Nominal empowers engineers to continuously monitor, validate, and deploy innovations, transforming how mission-critical hardware is built and operated.
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