Careers at Rain

Incrementalism has defined innovation for two decades, but not at Rain, where our team is committed to tackling the wildfire problem head on. We are creating essential infrastructure for billions of people to coexist with climate change today and in the future. We apply a diverse set of skills and backgrounds to bring our product to life and serve our community as quickly as possible, because wildfire won’t wait.

  • Today’s Problem to Solve

    Wildfires are growing in frequency and intensity.

    Wildfires have more than doubled in frequency and intensity in the last two decades. Eight out of the 10 most destructive California wildfires have occurred in the last decade.

    Modeling of wildfire smoke suggest that cumulative deaths due to wildfire smoke in the U.S. could reach nearly 2 million over the next 30 years. Globally an estimated 1.4 million people worldwide could die prematurely each year from smoke by the end of this century.

  • The climate impact is urgent.

    In 2021, wildfires produced the equivalent of 18% of global fossil fuel CO₂ emissions. Carbon released from forest fires has surged 60% globally since 2001. In some of the most climate-sensitive northern forests, it has nearly tripled. Reducing catastrophic wildfire emissions is one of the greatest opportunities we have to protect the planet.

  • Rapid response shows promise.

    Independent research shows that cutting wildfire response times by just 15 minutes could reduce the frequency of large, uncontained fires by 3–7%—yielding up to $8.2 billion in benefits for California alone.

    Rain’s autonomous wildfire suppression technology are designed to be pre-positioned in high-risk areas, enabling fire agencies to rapidly contain early-stage ignitions—before they become catastrophic.

Tackle this problem with us

Join a nimble team of doers, working every day to bring autonomous rapid response to complement a host of burgeoning firetech ventures—from early detection aided by AI to autonomous robots that aid agencies performing prescribed burns.

  • Rain's Mission

    Fast, safe and effective new tools for firefighters.

    We’re motivated by a simple truth: firefighters put their lives on the line to protect communities, and they deserve the most advanced technology we can provide. Rain’s autonomy expands response options, enhances safety with pilot workload reduction and collision avoidance, and allows aircraft to continue working in spite of dangerous conditions, including at night, in strong winds, and in other degraded visual environments.

  • A network of pre-positioned autonomous aircraft can:

    Increase the number of firefighting resources available in the earliest, most critical minutes.

    Speed response and give firefighters additional layers of safety.

    Automate essential tasks like hotspot detection and perimeter control.

  • Rain as an employer

    Some of the more unusual benefits you’ll enjoy as a Rain employee are areas for personal projects in our firehouse shop, a go-kart track in the back lot, the best view of San Francisco in the Bay and minimum time off. Some of the more classic benefits include a 401(k), free lunch, great health insurance and a ping pong table.

    At Rain we believe in diversity because we know that it drives innovation, and helps create better products and services for our community. We are a small team and rely on each other to do big jobs, and small ones.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

Culture at Rain

  • Mission-driven and resilient

    At Rain we are committed to getting our products out into the world. We earnestly pursue our goal to protect people, steward the planet, and shield communities near and far from catastrophic climate change.

    We share our time, talent, and technology to inspire our neighbors.

  • Find A Way

    We expect to frequently encounter enormous challenges and choose optimism. We are unflagging but pragmatic in pursuit of our objectives.

    We value the depth of our relationships forged through collectively overcoming adversity. We support each other so that together, we have the fortitude to do the hard things.

  • More than a standard start-up

    We enjoy high levels of responsibility, open dialogue, iterative and fast-paced learning, and we believe in our ability to learn and do hard things quickly. We take turns taking out the garbage.

    We appreciate in-office time, strive to make the most out of very few meetings, are endlessly curious, and enjoy sharing what we know.

Open Missions | Make our mission your mission, too.

  • Autonomy Software Engineer

    We are looking for an experienced autonomy software engineer at Rain, who will be ready to lead design, development and integration of software that enables autonomous mission planning, execution, and adaptation to dynamic wildfire environments. Collaborating with firefighters, pilots and engineers, you will identify and ensure mission requirements are met end to end.

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  • Perception Software Engineer

    Join us to drive the advancement of our fire perception system deployed onboard autonomous aircraft. You will work closely with teammates to design, build, and refine technologies that identify, localize, model, and communicate critical information about wildfire environments. Collaborating with firefighters, pilots and engineers, you will develop the advanced capabilities to ensure that first responders have a real-time operational picture of wildfire conditions.

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