Navigation, Guidance & Control - RPO Engineer V

Arcfield•Louisville, CO

About The Position

OSS is seeking a Principal Navigation, Guidance & Control (NG&C) Engineer to own the relative-navigation, guidance, and control algorithm architecture for a complex autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) mission involving a cooperative, docking-ready target. This is a senior technical leadership role where you will set the technical direction for how our spacecraft safely approaches, holds relative to, and docks with its target, define the supporting verification and validation strategy, and serve as the GN&C technical authority in design reviews. You will work primarily in Python and C++ (experience with or willingness to learn Julia is a plus) and should be fluent in orbit and attitude dynamics, relative orbital mechanics, and estimation and control theory. Because OSS is a smaller, fast-moving company, the role also offers the opportunity to contribute across mission planning, high-fidelity orbit propagation, ADCS and propulsion subsystem work, and new business pursuits — but the core of this position is leading RPO algorithm development.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant engineering or computational field, plus 10–12 years (BS), 8–10 years (MS), or 5–7 years (PhD) of professional experience developing software for high-reliability space and aerospace applications.
Strong working knowledge of orbit and attitude dynamics, relative orbital mechanics, and the space environment, including common perturbation modeling.
Demonstrated depth in estimation and/or control theory (e.g., Kalman filtering, optimal control) applied to spacecraft GN&C.
Hands-on algorithm development experience in C++ and Python (or similar).
Proficiency with modern software development practices and version control (Git preferred).
Excellent technical writing, communication and presentation skills.
Must be a U.S. person as defined under ITAR/EAR, and ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience developing GN&C algorithms for rendezvous, proximity operations, formation-flying, or on-orbit servicing mission.
Flight or on-orbit GN&C experience.
Vision-based / LIDAR-based relative navigation and pose estimation.
Experience with MATLAB/Simulink and model-based design and autocoding techniques.
Advanced control methods (e.g., MPC, optimal/robust control).
Embedded / real-time flight software experience, including Linux and embedded Linux variants.
Experience with or willingness to learn Julia.

Responsibilities

Own and evolve the relative-navigation, guidance, and control algorithm architecture for autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking with a cooperative target, integrated into OSS's in-house GN&C software framework.
Design and implement relative-navigation filters (EKF/UKF), sensor fusion, and relative orbit determination using the RPO sensor suite — vision-based pose estimation, LIDAR, and/or relative GNSS — for a cooperative, fiducial-equipped target.
Develop rendezvous and proximity-operations guidance: V-bar/R-bar and glideslope approaches, station-keeping, controlled fly-around and inspection, and safe-hold points.
Design the safety-critical trajectory logic: approach corridors, keep-out spheres/ellipsoids, passive-abort trajectories, and autonomous collision-avoidance maneuvers.
Develop 6-DOF relative guidance and control through final approach, docking, and capture, including control allocation across the thruster and actuator set.
Model relative orbital dynamics (Clohessy-Wiltshire/Hill, and eccentric formulations such as Tschauner-Hempel as needed) to anchor algorithm design and analysis.
Define and lead the GN&C V&V strategy: 6-DOF closed-loop simulation, Monte Carlo dispersion analysis, and processor- and hardware-in-the-loop (PIL/HIL) testing.
Support proximity-operations validation on dynamic testbeds (e.g., air-bearing or robotic relative-motion facilities) where applicable.
Perform supporting orbit, attitude, power, and overpass analyses using OSS's in-house NG&C framework.
Derive and own GN&C requirements, including relative-navigation performance, approach safety, and abort criteria.
Set software design standards — modular, efficient, testable, well-documented — and author robust unit and integration tests.
Mentor engineers and lead GN&C content in system and design reviews.
Interface algorithm designs with the flight software / embedded environment, including autocoding workflows where used.
Support ADCS subsystem trades, sizing, and hardware/software test of COTS ADCS components, sensors, and actuators.
Support propulsion subsystem trades, selection, and test.
Contribute to mission planning, high-fidelity orbit propagation, and satellite data analysis.
Support business development through proposals, conceptual mission design, and requirements development.