Mission Operations Engineer - Internship (Summer 2027)

About the job

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 who are interested in a 12-week Summer 2027 internship and on track to graduate by Summer 2028.
As a Mission Ops Engineering intern, you'll work side by side with customers building rocket engines, satellites, and aircraft, helping them solve hard test and operations problems with Nominal's platform. You'll see what it takes to deploy software into a live test environment, write code that gets customer data flowing, and turn what you learn into product feedback that shapes what we build next.
🚀 What you’ll do
Write scripts and tooling to deploy, configure, and connect customer data to Nominal's platform
Sit in on customer conversations and training sessions to learn how operators use our tools day to day
Help troubleshoot issues customers run into and document the fixes for the team
Turn what you observe in the field into structured feedback for the product team
Own a self-contained project over the summer that improves a specific part of a customer's workflow
🎯 Reach out if…
You're on track to graduate by Summer 2028 and are open to a full-time role afterward
You have hands-on experience with hardware systems — test stands, robotics, aerospace, automotive, or similar — through coursework, research, personal projects, or prior internships
You've written code (Python or similar) for a class, research, or personal project, and want to use it on real hardware data
You communicate clearly and want to work directly with the people who'll use what you build
You're comfortable stepping into unfamiliar technical environments and figuring out what's needed
You have a genuine interest in hardware testing and the industries Nominal serves
⚡ Bonus
Exposure to data acquisition or hardware tools (DAQs, LabVIEW, MATLAB/Simulink) or data tools (SQL, Python, Pandas)
Experience in a customer-facing or support role
✨ 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
.