Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer

Varda Space•El Segundo, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Varda is developing commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing and reentry capsules. Its W-Series vehicles are designed, built, and operated in-house. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, and also has offices in Washington, DC, and Huntsville, Alabama. As a Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer, you will own the full life cycle of GNC development, from design through unit testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. You will perform system analyses, including simulations and Monte Carlo analyses, to meet specifications and requirements and inform system-level architectural and business decisions. You will contribute to Varda’s in-house multi-degree-of-freedom aerospace simulation and test framework and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation. The role spans initial analysis and design, vehicle integration, mission planning, and flight, including support for on-orbit and reentry mission operations. This is an on-site role in El Segundo, California. The stated salary range is $169,067–$216,031 per year. The position is eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards. Because the role provides access to export-controlled items, Varda’s policy is to hire U.S. persons permitted to access its technology without an export license.

Requirements

B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering, physics, or a related field.
At least 5 years of proven experience, or a Ph.D. with at least 3 years of relevant experience.
Demonstrated knowledge of designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems.
Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++ and Python.
Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development.
Experience anchoring or fitting first-principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations.
Proven systems engineering and configuration management skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in engineering or physics.
Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design.
Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools.
Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible-body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics.
Experience developing and verifying physical models for control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation.
Experience supporting safety-critical flight tests or spacecraft.
Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions using lean, state-of-the-art software development techniques.

Responsibilities

Specify ADCS hardware performance, including sizing reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers.
Design and implement autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning, and atmospheric reentry algorithms.
Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for space capsule reentry.
Develop six-degree-of-freedom vehicle simulations using C++, Python, and MATLAB/Simulink.
Run Monte Carlo analyses to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities.
Integrate and test GNC sensors, actuators, and software in a hardware-in-the-loop environment.
Design and implement ground tooling for fully automated maneuver responsibility and maneuver scheduling decisions.
Monitor on-orbit system performance and troubleshoot as necessary.
Coordinate with other spacecraft operators, third-party agencies, and the U.S. government.
Own GNC development from design through unit, hardware-in-the-loop, on-vehicle, and flight testing.
Perform system analyses and contribute to system-level architectural and business decisions.
Contribute to the in-house aerospace simulation and test framework and develop and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation.
Support GNC execution across vehicle integration, mission planning, flight, and on-orbit and reentry mission operations.