Engineer Guidance Navigation Control Level 2/3 (AHT)

Description

The company builds defense systems, and this role sits in its Defense Systems group, supporting the Advance Weapons program from Northridge, CA.

Guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) work blends systems engineering, aerospace engineering, software engineering and other fields, so you can build broad knowledge across areas or go deep in one.

The team's analysis feeds the investment decisions of senior leadership and customer program offices, and shapes clean-sheet requirements, updates to existing program requirements, and future technology and capability choices.

The company values people who embrace change, move quickly, keep improving through continuous learning, and favor automation, with open, transparent, team-based collaboration and shared responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Own a mission trajectory from start to finish: gather customer requirements, take part in design reviews, run simulations and analysis, and carry the mission through execution.
• Design, optimize and run dispersion analysis on trajectories for air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles across all phases of flight.
• Set flight constants and guidance parameters, and verify them by analysis against mission requirements within mission and vehicle limits.
• Work with air vehicle and subsystem engineers and with program and customer leadership to recommend candidate designs and write Concepts of Operation (CONOPs) and Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) at system, mission and campaign level.
• Build new simulation frameworks, performance models, algorithms, threat models and command and control models, or integrate existing ones.
• Write software automation tools for mission design, analysis, testing and reporting.
• Run trade studies to improve weapon performance and reliability.
• Implement new software or algorithms for mission-unique capabilities.
• Support the full mission lifecycle, from sales through mission execution.
• Talk with customers about current missions and future business.

Requirements

• Engineer GN&C Level 2: a Bachelor of Science in a related field with at least 2 years of experience, or a Master's degree in a related field with 0 years of experience plus the experience listed below.
• Engineer GN&C Level 3: a Bachelor of Science in a related field with at least 5 years of experience, or a Master's degree in a related field with 3 years of experience plus the experience listed below.
• Experience designing guidance algorithms, including guidance law, trajectory optimization and flight vehicle autonomy.
• Experience designing navigation algorithms, including initial alignment, strapdown propagation and INS filtering.
• Experience with flight control algorithms, including trim point selection, LTI trim and maneuver analysis, and nonlinear dynamic analysis.
• Experience with tracking algorithms, including angle-only tracking, maneuvering target tracking, multi-target tracking, multi-sensor data fusion and track file management.
• Experience architecting high-fidelity, multi-degree-of-freedom flight or orbital mechanics and vehicle dynamics simulations.
• Experience modeling navigation sensors in Monte Carlo simulation.
• Experience architecting targeting sensor models in Monte Carlo simulation, and comparing simulation output with actual targeting sensor output.
• Experience architecting flight vehicle conceptual designs and modeling and simulation for trade studies and initial requirements, and contributing to proposals.
• Experience architecting propulsion systems, including electric, rocket, air-breathing and attitude control thrusters, and comparing simulation output with actual test data.
• Experience architecting actuation system models and designing test equipment that shows actuation performance meets requirements.
• A current, active DoD Secret clearance, and the ability to obtain and keep a DoD Top Secret clearance and/or program special access clearance.
• Preferred: proposal development, writing or execution.
• Preferred: a Master's degree in a STEM discipline from an accredited university.
• Preferred: familiarity with AGILE, MBSE and/or system architecture frameworks.
• Preferred: effective project management and good communication.
• Preferred: experience with version control tools such as Bitbucket, GitHub or GitLab.
• Preferred: strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Preferred: excellent communication, including presenting and briefing technical data to leadership at all levels of the company and to the U.S. Government.
• Preferred: survivability, lethality, vulnerability and engagement analysis at the mission level.
• Preferred: experience integrating plug-ins into AFSIM.
• Preferred: knowledge of RF threat modeling.
• Preferred: knowledge of guided missile design.

Conditions

The role is 100% on-site in Northridge, CA.

Travel is required for 10% of the time.

A Secret clearance is required to start.

Relocation assistance may be available but is not guaranteed.

Primary level base salary range: $91,800.00 to $137,600.00. Secondary level base salary range: $114,000.00 to $171,000.00. These ranges are a general guideline; the company sets base pay based on the scope of the role, your experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

The application period is estimated at 20 days from the posting date, and may be shortened or extended based on business needs and candidate availability.

Benefits

• Depending on the position, you may be eligible for overtime, shift differential and a discretionary bonus on top of base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and let you share in company results.
• Vice President and Director roles may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.
• Benefits include health insurance, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, company-paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and personal business.