Sentinel - Hypersonic Testbed GN&C Engineer

Northrop Grumman•Huntsville, AL

11d•Hybrid

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is seeking a Principal GN&C Engineer/Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer to support the Sentinel Program. This role involves the technical development of Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in Exoatmospheric and Endoatmospheric flight. The engineer will mature existing control algorithms and analysis tools, tune autopilot(s) for emerging missions, and support covariance analysis and circular error probable accuracy assessment. The position requires collaboration with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment, development and analysis of GNC algorithms, and the creation and validation of complex 6 degrees of freedom vehicle models. Responsibilities also include modeling missile components, using C++ and MATLAB, conducting multidisciplinary research, and working with the GN&C Flight Software Team to generate code from high-level specifications. The role will involve serving on Advanced Programs (SDS Futures' Group) initiatives in the hypersonic arena.

Requirements

Principal GN&C Engineer: Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5 years of experience, 3 years of experience with master’s degree, 0 years of experience with PhD.
Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer: Bachelor's degree in STEM and 8 years of experience, 6 years of experience with master’s degree, 4 years of experience with PhD.
Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
Ability to obtain Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company. (For Principal)
Ability to obtain TOP SECRET clearance and Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company. (For Sr. Principal)
1 year of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms. (For Principal)
3 years of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms. (For Sr. Principal)
2 years of experience with Agile Development with DoDAF standards and methods.
2 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher-level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.). (For Principal)
4 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher-level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.). (For Sr. Principal)
3 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft. (For Principal)
4 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft. (For Sr. Principal)
U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

Nice To Haves

PhD or Masters advanced degree in Aerospace Engineering or applicable technical discipline
Experience with guidance law design for trajectory shaping and precision impact requirements.
Extensive experience with MATLAB/Simulink
Experience with Object-Oriented Programming
Experience in covariance and CEP analysis
Experience with linear stability analysis to determine control system stability margins
Experience designing, analyzing, and tuning autopilot algorithms for missile, hypersonic, or unmanned aircraft systems.
Strong grasp of both classical and modern control theory, including PID, gain scheduling, state-space control, optimal control, or robust control techniques.
Experience designing gain-scheduled or adaptive flight control systems across a wide flight envelope.
Familiarity with nonlinear control techniques such as dynamic inversion, LQR/LQG, MPC, or adaptive control
Experience developing actuator dynamic models, including bandwidth, rate limiting, position limits, hysteresis, backlash, deadband, and saturation effects.
Experience evaluating actuator performance across varying environmental and operational conditions
Knowledge of state estimation techniques, such as Kalman filtering or complementary filtering.
Experience transitioning theoretical algorithms into flight-ready software using Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) applications
Experience with a software version control system, such as Git, Gitlab, and/or Bitbucket
Experience with the Atlassian tool set, Agile Development, Model Based Engineering, and Software Development best practices
Experience with certification, airworthiness, testing, or qualification of flight and safety critical systems
Active DoD Top Secret clearance

Responsibilities

Support the technical development of the Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in Exoatmospheric and Endoatmospheric flight.
Mature existing control algorithms and analysis tools.
Tune the autopilot(s) for emerging missions supporting a variety of SDS Futures Programs.
Support covariance analysis and circular error probable accuracy assessment.
Participate in engineering review boards, technical interchange meetings and critical milestone reviews.
Determine and report incremental performance improvements.
Respond to analysis package requests.
Perform trajectory assessment and flight analyses.
Collaborate with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment to meet critical milestones.
Develop and analyze GNC algorithms (Guidance, Navigation, Autopilot).
Develop, verify, and validate complex 6 degrees of freedom vehicle models.
Model missile components such as inertial measurement units (IMU), electronic control actuators, and thrust vector control (TVC) systems.
Use C++ and MATLAB and Object-Oriented design.
Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development stages utilizing (M&S) tools systems for safety and mission critical analysis.
Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high-level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.
Serve on one or more Advanced Programs (SDS Futures' Group) initiatives in the hypersonic arena.