Backend Engineer — Luna Platform (NASA Mission Cloud)

MRI Technologies has an exciting opportunity for a Backend Engineer on the Luna Platform team within the Mission Enabling Services Contract (MESC) at NASA Johnson Space Center. In this role, you will design and develop the backend services and APIs that power Luna-the governance and operations layer for MRI's production GCP cloud platform serving NASA mission workloads. Luna is the internal tooling and APIs that make the rest of the system work.

You will work within a collaborative team of cloud engineers, architects, and NASA stakeholders-building in Python and Go, deploying on Kubernetes, and operating services that engineering teams and mission organizations depend on every day. You will take real ownership of the codebase, work at a pace that keeps the platform moving, and interact directly with NASA mission teams to help drive cloud-native and AI capabilities across all domains. If you want backend engineering work with real scope and a team that takes platform quality seriously, this is that role.

A typical day might begin with reviewing a pull request for a new API endpoint or triaging a bug in the cost management service. By midday you could be implementing a new data pipeline in Python, updating Flux CD deployment configurations for a GKE fleet component, or collaborating with Luna architects on a new platform feature design. In the afternoon, you might be writing integration tests, improving a GitLab CI/CD pipeline, maintaining API reference documentation, or meeting with NASA mission teams to understand how platform capabilities can better support their needs. This is onsite-preferred work, and regular presence at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX creates the direct collaboration that drives the platform forward.

What We Are Looking For

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent
• 3 to 5 years of relevant backend engineering experience
• Strong backend development experience in Python and/or Go
• Experience deploying and operating backend services on Kubernetes (GKE or equivalent)
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) experience with services such as Cloud Run, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, or Pub/Sub
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (GitLab preferred)
• Familiarity with GitOps principles and tooling (Flux CD, ArgoCD, or equivalent)
• Strong Git skills and collaborative development practices

Preferences:

• Experience with FastAPI or similar Python async web frameworks
• Familiarity with Flux CD and Kubernetes-native delivery patterns
• Experience with BigQuery or large-scale data querying
• Exposure to security tooling including CVE scanning, image signing, and SBOM generation
• Prior NASA or federal government software development experience
• Ability to work onsite at or near NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX is strongly preferred by the NASA customer. Local candidates will be prioritized.

This position has been posted at multiple levels. Depending on your experience and business needs, we may consider candidates at any level for which the position has been advertised.

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, company-paid life and disability insurance, paid time off, and 401(k). You'll also enjoy a flexible work schedule and strong career development opportunities working alongside NASA's mission teams.

Proof of U.S. Citizenship is a requirement for this position. Must be able to complete a U.S. government background investigation.

MRI Technologies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

As we are a Federal Contractor, most positions require the employee to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government background investigation. MRI also completes a pre-screening background check for anyone offered employment.