Mission Planning Engineer (Guidance, Navigation, Control)

Harmattan AI•Washington D.C., MD

13h•$165,000 - $190,000•Onsite

About The Position

At Harmattan AI, we are a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Driven by rigorous engineering developments of new defense products based on recent robotics and AI developments, we are on a steep growth trajectory. If you are interested in a career in a highly technical environment, thrive on pushing boundaries, and want to achieve ambitious goals, we would love to hear from you. About the Role As a Mission Planning Engineer , you’ll design and implement the Guidance, Navigation, and Control algorithms that translate high-level mission goals into actionable guidance for autonomous robots and multi-agent systems. You’ll bridge cutting-edge research and field-ready autonomy, ensuring our systems are both intelligent and predictable in live operations.

Requirements

Education: Ph.D. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Applied Math, AI, or related field.
Experience: Proven experience designing and deploying mission- or path-planning algorithms in aerospace, defense, or robotics.
Technical Skills: Strong coding in Python and C++ (or MATLAB for prototyping). Deep understanding of autonomous decision-making, multi-agent coordination, and simulation frameworks.
Mindset: Ability to move from research prototype to production-grade system
Clearance: Eligible for U.S. DoD Security Clearance.
Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI’s mission, vision, and ambitious growth plans, ready to go the extra mile to ensure operational excellence.

Responsibilities

Design algorithms that decompose high-level missions into structured, solvable guidance tasks for autonomous robots.
Develop and optimize mission and path-planning frameworks for autonomous systems.
Build scalable backend integrations for mission guidance and execution.
Run simulations and validation campaigns to assess autonomy consistency across diverse mission types.
Partner with AI/ML, backend, and product teams to ensure algorithms are efficient, testable, and deployable in real-time environment