GNC Engineer

Icarus•El Segundo, CA

4h•$100,000 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

Icarus is hiring a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer at Level I, II, or III. The level will be determined during the interview process based on technical skills, relevant experience, and demonstrated ownership. The role focuses on developing and operating GNC systems for solar-powered aircraft designed to fly at 60,000 feet for weeks at a time. The engineer will own the GNC stack end to end, from modeling and simulation through control design, estimation, tuning, validation, and flight testing. The role involves close integration with avionics, sensors, propulsion, and autonomy software, as well as rapid troubleshooting and iteration using flight data, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and field testing. The position also supports integration, production bring-up, and flight operations in the desert. Icarus describes its culture as a high-ownership, fast-moving engineering team focused on real hardware and flight milestones. The engineer will work closely with the CEO and a small team, taking flight systems from concept through design, integration, testing, and flight. The role requires comfort working under pressure, learning quickly, troubleshooting in the field, and driving quality and speed.

Requirements

At least 1 year working on real GNC systems for aircraft, UAVs, spacecraft, or similarly complex dynamic systems.
Strong fundamentals in dynamics, controls, estimation, and linear systems.
Familiarity with state estimation methods such as EKF/UKF, sensor fusion, and inertial navigation.
Experience designing and tuning control systems that fly on real vehicles.
Comfort working from first principles and validating designs with test and flight data.
Ability to move quickly, own outcomes, and troubleshoot in the field.
Ability to thrive under pressure, learn quickly, and prioritize quality and speed.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and fly guidance, navigation, and control systems for long-endurance stratospheric aircraft.
Own the GNC stack, including modeling, simulation, control law design, estimation, tuning, validation, and flight test.
Develop and maintain vehicle dynamics models and simulation environments.
Design and tune controllers for launch, climb, station-keeping, loiter, descent, and recovery.
Integrate GNC with avionics, sensors, propulsion, and autonomy software.
Debug and iterate using flight data, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and field testing.
Support integration, production bring-up, and flight operations in the desert.
Drive flight systems from concept through design, integration, testing, and flight.