Senior Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Engineer - Space Systems
Location: California (Los Angeles / Bay Area preferred)
Type: Full-time · Hybrid Onsite
About the Role
My client is focusing on developing orbital vehicles, and they need someone to make sure they know exactly where they are and what they’re doing at every millisecond. You’ll own GNC design from concept through on-orbit operations - guidance profiles, navigation filters, and control loops that actually fly. The work ranges from ascent and coast guidance to fine attitude control for payload pointing and orbital manoeuvring. You’ll write code that directly affects delta-V budgets, prop usage, and mission success criteria.
This is not a simulation-only role; you’ll design, test, and fly hardware that actually reaches space.
What You’ll Do
- Design and implement attitude determination and control algorithms for multi-phase flight (ascent, orbit insertion, and station-keeping).
- Develop navigation filters fusing IMU, GNSS, and star tracker data for precision orbit and attitude estimation.
- Generate guidance profiles for orbit insertion, transfers, and re-entry.
- Implement control laws (LQR, PID, model predictive, or quaternion-based) in embedded C/C++ for flight processors.
- Integrate algorithms with avionics and propulsion software; validate through Monte Carlo and HIL testing.
- Analyse flight telemetry to tune filters, identify bias drift, and improve stability margins.
- Contribute to fault management logic - ensuring the vehicle recovers gracefully when reality diverges from plan.
You’re a Fit If You’ve Done This Before
- Several years in GNC for launch, spacecraft, or high-dynamic aerospace systems.
- You’ve taken control or estimation algorithms from MATLAB/Python into flight software that actually launched.
- Strong background in attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, and coordinate transformations.
- Fluent in Kalman filtering (EKF/UKF), quaternion math, and control loop design.
- Comfortable debugging flight telemetry at 3 AM to track down a misaligned frame or bad sensor bias.
- Degree in Aerospace, Controls, or Applied Physics. MS or PhD preferred.
Bonus Experience
- Star tracker integration or optical navigation.
- Onboard fault detection / isolation / recovery logic (FDIR).
- Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of flight code.
- Thruster control (RCS, reaction wheels, or gimbaled engines).
- Familiarity with CCSDS flight software architectures.
How the Team Works
Small, fast-moving, and deeply technical. Each engineer owns their domain - design, test, flight. You’ll collaborate directly with avionics, propulsion, and mission ops. There’s no middle layer: the people who write the control code also sign off on flight readiness.
Compensation
- Base: $180K–$230K
- Equity and performance bonus available
- Full medical/vision/dental, hybrid schedule, and relocation assistance if needed
If you think you'd be a good fit, please apply directly to this ad with your latest CV.
