Principal Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Engineer

Description

The company builds a multi-product defense portfolio aimed at giving its customers a decisive edge in controlling the domain. Its products run on a distributed networking core that helps warfighters, commercial air operators and border protection teams respond faster, adjust quickly and stay ahead of changing threats.

Founded in 2022, the company has raised $1 billion from investors including 8VC, Accel and Valor Equity Partners. It has 500+ employees across 5 offices: Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego and London.

This role leads guidance, navigation and control for the modular aircraft program, with a focus on how several aircraft fly, coordinate and interact in shared airspace or missions. You will build and run 6DOF simulations of multiple interacting aircraft, not just single-vehicle models, and make sure the design stays safe, predictable and effective at the scale a mass-produced aircraft implies.

Responsibilities

• Own the GNC architecture for the air vehicle, covering flight control laws, navigation and state estimation, and guidance and trajectory management.
• Design control laws and guidance algorithms that suit the flight envelope, the autonomy level and the limits of modular, mass-production builds.
• Specify sensor fusion and state estimation methods, such as GPS/INS integration and relative navigation between aircraft where needed, for both single-aircraft and multi-aircraft flight.
• Work with Avionics, which owns onboard avionics and the Ground Control Station, so GNC algorithms run correctly within avionics hardware, software and flight control computer limits.
• Build and maintain 6DOF simulation environments that model several aircraft at once, including vehicle-to-vehicle interaction, relative position and separation, formation or collaborative behavior, and deconfliction logic where the operating concept calls for it.
• Use multi-aircraft simulation to design, test and verify guidance and control in realistic mass-employment cases, such as simultaneous launches and recoveries, coordinated maneuvers, formation keeping and collision avoidance.
• Define the simulation architecture, including real-time or non-real-time operation, distribution across simulated vehicles and hardware-in-the-loop integration points.
• Check simulation fidelity against flight test data and independent analysis so results can support design and verification decisions.
• Run linear and nonlinear stability and performance analysis of the flight control system across the flight envelope and configuration variants.
• Analyze how aircraft interact in flight, including separation assurance, wake and proximity effects where relevant, and failure behavior in dense or coordinated operations.
• Support System Safety Analysis and FMEA for GNC functions, including degraded-mode behavior and fail-safe or fail-operational design.
• Define the GNC verification and validation approach across simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, ground test and flight test.
• Set GNC flight test objectives, test points and success criteria, including multi-aircraft scenarios where they apply.
• Help plan and run flight tests and analyze the data afterward, tying results back to simulation to refine models and close verification gaps.
• Lead root-cause investigations into GNC anomalies found in simulation, ground test or flight test.
• Make sure GNC algorithms and architecture tolerate manufacturing variation between vehicles and across configuration variants.
• Work with Systems Engineering and Mission Systems so GNC supports distributed and collaborative employment concepts.
• Act as the senior GNC technical authority on the program at PDR, CDR and government technical interchange meetings.
• Identify and manage GNC risks, including multi-aircraft interaction, simulation fidelity and verification schedule.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical or electrical engineering, or a related discipline.
• Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in a relevant GNC or controls discipline, preferred.
• 15+ years of GNC engineering experience on aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems.
• Hands-on experience building and using 6DOF simulations with multiple interacting aircraft, not only single-vehicle models.
• Strong background in flight control law design, state estimation and navigation algorithms, and stability and performance analysis.
• Experience planning and running flight tests and correlating the data with simulation or analysis predictions.
• Preferred: experience with modular, attritable, low-cost or mass-producible aircraft programs.
• Preferred: ability to obtain and maintain a Secret, Top Secret or SCI clearance.

Conditions

The stated pay range covers targeted base compensation only and excludes bonus, equity and benefits. It is an estimate, and the actual offer may vary with experience, education, training, critical skills and business considerations. Candidates outside the range are still encouraged to apply.

This is an onsite role.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision coverage, paid 100% by the company.
• 401k with a 50% company match up to 6% of pay, plus FSA, HSA, life insurance and more.
• Free daily lunch while working onsite, a fully stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO and a casual dress code.
• Competitive base salary, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and annual bonuses coming soon.