Guidance Navigation Control (GNC) Engineers - Level 3 or 4 - TS Cleared (AHT)

Description

The company's Space Sector is hiring a Guidance Navigation Control (GNC) Engineer for its Space team, based in Dulles, VA or Gilbert, AZ.

The GNC team creates and checks spacecraft subsystems for DoD, NASA and commercial clients, and it leads in autonomous rendezvous and docking and in fast design and production of small satellites.

You would contribute directly to high-stakes missions from your first day, working in collaborative teams.

This description is not tied to a current opening. The company may use it to find people whose skills suit roles that come up often, and applicants who express interest may be considered later.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze and tune spacecraft attitude and position control loops using time-domain and frequency-domain methods.
• Design and analyze relative guidance for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO).
• Design, analyze and tune sequential filters such as Kalman filters for attitude determination and relative navigation.
• Test and analyze GNC subsystem performance with simulations and other analytical tools.
• Support early design concepts by sizing and placing actuators and sensors, and by assessing attitude and position guidance, rendezvous, proximity and docking, and predicted performance.
• Build simulation models of sensors (star trackers, rate gyros, accelerometers, GPS, magnetometers, sun sensors), actuators (reaction wheels, torque bars, thrusters, CMGs), system dynamics (rigid body, multi-body, orbital mechanics, flexible structures, propellant slosh) and the space environment (atmosphere, solar radiation pressure, third-body gravity, geopotential).
• Apply engineering principles, industry standards, company process, and knowledge of vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, classical and modern control, and estimation theory to meet advanced program goals.
• Document designs, analyses and test results, and prepare presentation materials.
• Present results to internal and external customers.
• Work effectively in small to medium-sized groups.

Requirements

• Hold an active or current U.S. Government DoD Top Secret clearance at the time of application, current and within scope, and be able to obtain and maintain SAP and SCI approval within a reasonable period.
• Level 3: bachelor's degree with 5 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Level 3: 4+ additional years of experience may be considered in place of a completed degree.
• Level 3: master's degree with 3 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Level 3: PhD with 1 year of relevant engineering experience.
• Level 4: bachelor's degree with 8 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Level 4: 4+ additional years of experience may be considered in place of a completed degree.
• Level 4: master's degree with 6 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Level 4: PhD with 4 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Develop software in MATLAB/Simulink and C/C++.
• Experience in GNC subsystem design, analysis and testing, which may include attitude determination and control systems (ADCS).
• Preferred: current or active TS clearance with SCI.
• Preferred: MS or PhD in engineering, physics or math.
• Preferred: experience with version control tools such as SVN or Git.
• Preferred: experience implementing spacecraft GNC algorithms on embedded systems.
• Preferred: strong fundamentals in spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics, navigation filtering and/or control systems design.
• Preferred: experience with on-orbit space vehicle operations, including commanding, debugging and using flight telemetry to track performance metrics.
• Preferred: experience with RPO algorithms, practices and planning strategies.
• Preferred: experience with spacecraft GNC design, analysis, hardware, integration and test (I&T), or flight operations.
• Preferred: excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Preferred: membership or leadership roles in professional groups, clubs or extracurricular activities.

Conditions

The role is 100% onsite, and telecommuting cannot be accommodated.

Location is either Dulles, VA or Gilbert, AZ.

Travel is about 10% of the time.

A Top Secret clearance is required to start.

Relocation assistance may be available.

Primary level base salary range is $98,400.00 to $171,000.00, and secondary level base salary range is $122,800.00 to $213,400.00. These are general guidelines; offers depend on the scope of the role, the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

The application window is estimated at 20 days from the posting date, and it 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 contribution 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 for vacation or personal business.
• Full Total Rewards details are available on the company's benefits site.