Director of GNC

Astra • Alameda, CA

5d • $163,200 - $250,000

About The Position

As Director of GNC, you will own and build the Guidance, Navigation, and Control function at Astra. This is not a maintenance role — you will establish the team, the technical roadmap, and the culture from the ground up. You'll have end-to-end ownership of the algorithms, simulations, and infrastructure that guide our vehicles from liftoff through orbital insertion.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will be writing algorithms, building simulations, and debugging hardware-in-the-loop test results — not managing from a distance. At Astra's scale, the Director of GNC is the lead engineer and the team builder. You'll carry technical work while recruiting and developing the team around you.

This role reports to the Head of Launch and works at the intersection of GNC, flight software, avionics, and propulsion. You will shape how we develop, test, and fly — including how we adopt modern tooling (including AI/ML-assisted development) to accelerate the work of a lean team.

Requirements

• You have 10+ years of experience in aerospace vehicle GNC development and simulation, with demonstrated technical leadership.
• You are a systems thinker who optimizes globally, not locally — you understand how GNC decisions ripple across the vehicle and mission.
• You have built or scaled a team before and know how to hire, mentor, and hold people accountable while giving them room to operate — and you're still writing code, tuning controllers, and reviewing simulation results yourself.
• You have a grounded intuition for control systems on real vehicles — earned through flight programs, not just textbooks.
• You have deep knowledge of sensor integration and data fusion for navigation systems (IMUs, GPS, star trackers).
• You see AI/ML tooling as an accelerant for engineering workflows and have a vision for integrating it into development, test, and analysis processes — or you have the curiosity and technical depth to develop that vision quickly.
• You have the ability to perform system-level integration and troubleshoot complex cross-subsystem issues under pressure.
• You possess strong interpersonal skills — you can articulate ideas clearly, give direct technical feedback, and mentor engineers at all levels.
• You hold an advanced degree (Ph.D. or M.S.) in engineering, physics, mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• You have experience with Simulink and model-based design workflows.
• You're excited to work in a fast-paced, self-driven, iterative startup environment and to build the systems that enable frequent access to space.

Responsibilities

• Build the Team: Recruit, hire, and develop a high-performing GNC team. Define roles, set priorities, and create an environment where engineers do their best work.
• Own the GNC System: Drive requirements, algorithm development, simulation modeling, and trajectory design across guidance, navigation, and control. You are the final technical authority on GNC.
• Accelerate with Modern Tooling: Identify and integrate AI/ML-assisted tools into GNC workflows — automated test generation, simulation acceleration, data analysis pipelines, model validation — to multiply the output of a small team. We're not looking for AI as a replacement for rigorous engineering; we're looking for someone who sees it as a force multiplier for human expertise.
• Test Relentlessly: Build out test automation across all environments: simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, engine test cells, and integrated vehicles. Establish verification and validation practices that scale.
• Partner Across the Vehicle: Work with flight software, avionics, propulsion, and structures to define critical interfaces, specify component and system requirements, and influence decisions that shape current and future vehicles. Think at the system level.
• Fly: Support launch operations from mission control and own GNC responsibilities during countdown and flight.
• Close the Loop: Use ground test and flight data to verify system performance, improve simulation fidelity, and feed lessons learned back into the development cycle.

Benefits

• Astra provides competitive benefits and offer equity as part of the package.
• We have great benefits that include health, vision, dental, and 401K in comparison to other startups.
• WE provide lunch and there's plenty of snacks and drinks to get you through the day.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree