Senior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer

Varda Space•El Segundo, CA

10h•Onsite

About The Position

Varda is developing commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing and reentry capsules. Its W-Series vehicles and associated systems are designed, built, and operated in-house. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with additional offices in Washington, DC, and Huntsville, Alabama. The Senior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer owns the full life cycle of GNC development, from design through unit testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. The role performs system analyses, including simulations and Monte Carlo analyses, to meet specifications and requirements and inform system-level architectural and business decisions. It contributes to Varda’s in-house aerospace simulation and test framework and maintains design descriptions and supporting documentation. The engineer supports GNC subsystem execution from initial analysis and design through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight, and on-orbit and reentry mission operations. This is an on-site position in El Segundo, California. The stated annual salary range is $169,067–$216,031. The role is eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards. Employees must be U.S. persons authorized to access the company’s export-controlled technology.

Requirements

Bachelor’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.
Must be a U.S. person permitted to access the company’s export-controlled technology.

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 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 the GNC development life cycle from design through unit, hardware-in-the-loop, on-vehicle, and flight testing.
Perform system analyses and contribute to the in-house aerospace simulation and test framework.
Develop and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation.
Support GNC subsystem execution through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight, and on-orbit and reentry mission operations.