Senior GNC Engineer (NASA Sounding Rocket Program)

Peraton•Wallops Island, VA

9d•$66,000 - $106,000

About The Position

Peraton is seeking a GNC Engineer to support NASA’s Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) at Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. NSROC is a suborbital spaceflight program that provides launch vehicles, payload development, and field operations support for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The program supports approximately 14 sounding rocket launches per year from sites including Wallops, White Sands Missile Range, Poker Flats Rocket Range, Alaska, Kwajalein, and Andoya, Norway. The role applies a broad range of technical disciplines to guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) problems. The primary technical contribution is expected to involve software and electrical hardware design, while also working with pneumatic components, mechanical systems, and sensors such as rate gyros, inertial measurement units, star trackers, solar sensors, accelerometers, and magnetometers. The engineer will work with high-pressure pneumatic systems and support attitude control systems, other program projects, and the Boost Guidance System for sounding rocket missions. The engineer supports system development throughout the mission life cycle, including launch operations at remote sites. Work involves multiple projects, both independently and as part of a team, and requires communicating GNC concepts to program colleagues and customers through written materials, presentations, and discussions. Remote-site travel is required, typically lasting three to seven weeks per launch site visit.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or Physics.
At least two years of general engineering experience; three to five years is preferred.
Programming or scripting experience.
Comfort using test equipment and power supplies, oscilloscopes, and experience with hands-on hardware testing and troubleshooting.
MATLAB experience.
Microsoft Office proficiency.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
Ability to communicate GNC concepts in writing, orally, and through presentations.
Ability to travel to remote launch sites for assignments typically lasting three to seven weeks.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or higher in a related discipline; this reduces the experience requirement.
Real-time system development experience.
GNC-related experience.
Three to five years of general engineering experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

Analyze attitude control systems, attitude-control problems, navigation issues, sensor performance, and their contributions to system performance.
Support the design of software for attitude control systems and associated hardware and support equipment.
Apply engineering concepts, procedures, and practices to GNC problems.
Participate in technical design and modification negotiations with customers.
Present system designs and analyses to customers and technical disciplines.
Integrate and test in-house-designed and built attitude control systems.
Analyze post-flight data and redesign or modify equipment to improve performance.
Perform integration tests to validate assemblies.
Design, develop, manufacture, refurbish, and evaluate hardware relevant to attitude control system sensors and pneumatic attitude control systems.
Work with data from attitude sensors, particularly a roll-gimbal-mounted fiber-optic gyro.
Contribute to developing new engineering or specialty products and create engineering specifications for applicable projects.
Contribute to the work of multiple engineers, technicians, and fabrication areas.
Test control systems containing high-pressure hardware and electromechanical components for controlling payload attitude.
Support system development throughout the mission life cycle, including launches at remote sites.
Travel to remote launch sites, with typical travel lasting three to seven weeks.