Principal OR Sr. Principal Guidance Navigation Controls Engineer

Northrop Grumman•El Segundo, CA

9d•$114,000 - $213,400•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman's Aeronautics Systems – Research & Advanced Design (R&AD) transforms breakthrough ideas into mission-ready capabilities through intelligent anticipation. We’re the front-end design engine, defining what comes next. From developing cutting-edge next-generation future aircraft to trailblazing collaborative autonomous platforms, we push the boundaries of technology and forge industry-leading partnerships that set new standards for what’s possible. Our team owns the full lifecycle of advanced concept creation, from visionary early-stage designs and rapid prototyping to high-impact demonstrations and solving the toughest technical challenges in survivability, autonomy, and battle management. We seek curious, adaptable people who thrive on turning intuition into breakthrough solutions. If you’re driven to invent the future, build what’s next, and shape the landscape of national security, this is where you belong. Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal or Senior Principal Guidance Navigation Controls Engineer to join our team in our South Bay Vehicle Engineering organization. This position is located in El Segundo, CA. The selected candidate should thrive in a fast-paced work environment with high expectations and collaborative/team settings across all levels. This is a dynamic organization involved in deploying forward-leaning avionics, guidance, navigation, and control systems for developmental concepts for air vehicles, weapons, and many more platforms.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline with 5 years of relevant, professional engineering experience; OR Master’s degree in a related STEM discipline with 3 years of relevant, professional engineering experience; OR a PhD in a related STEM discipline with 1 year of relevant, professional engineering experience (for Principal GNC Engineer).
Bachelor's degree in a related Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline with 8 years of relevant, professional engineering experience; OR Master’s degree in a related STEM discipline with 6 years of relevant, professional engineering experience; OR a PhD in a related STEM discipline with 4 years of relevant, professional engineering experience (for Senior Principal GNC Engineer).
Experience with fixed-wing aircraft flight dynamics.
Experience using linear control principles and tools to design feedback control systems.
Experience analyzing non-linear simulations of aircraft closed-loop dynamics.
Working knowledge of autopilot functions and outer/inner loop control law performance requirements.
Experience using MATLAB to create, process, analyze, and visually represent data.
Experience using Simulink to model dynamic systems.
Working knowledge of logic, modes, and states for autonomous aircraft.
Ability and willingness to travel up to 20% of the time.
Current, active US Government Secret security clearance or higher and Special Program Access (SAP).
U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing control laws for fixed wing aircraft and performing handling qualities analysis
Working knowledge of MIL-STD-1797 flying qualities requirements
Experience with autonomy algorithms (Autonomous Taxi/ Take Off and Landing, etc.) for driving control laws.
Familiarity with Simulink Stateflow Modeling and autocoding Simulink models
Experience with C/C++, Python, and Lua script programming

Responsibilities

Support research and development of flight control algorithms for manned and unmanned air vehicles.
Design, develop, implement, verify, and test algorithms, software, and simulation tools to perform guidance, navigation and control (GNC) of autonomous unmanned aircraft.
Develop control laws to meet air vehicle performance, flying qualities, and stability margin requirements, both on ground and in flight.
Design outer and inner loop control laws, and associated logic and autonomy functions.
Develop air vehicle system linear and non-linear dynamic simulation models and integrate models into software and hardware-in-the-loop simulation environments.
Perform performance and flying qualities analysis.
Support non-linear simulation and hardware-in-the-loop lab testing.
Support flight test activities and analyze air vehicle flight test data.
Develop analysis to support design reviews at different stages in a development program, such as PDR, CDR, etc.