Sr. Staff GNC/Flight Systems Engineer

Redwire Defense Tech

3d•$152,000 - $230,000•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Staff GNC/Flight Systems Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for shaping the long-term direction, architecture, and performance of guidance, navigation, and control systems across the company’s UAS product lines. This role serves as a cross-program authority—defining standards, reviewing critical designs, anticipating system risks, and advancing the state of the art for flight-control capabilities. Engineers at this level operate with broad organizational influence. They mentor senior engineers, guide architectural decisions, solve the most complex and high-impact flight behaviors, and drive innovation in modeling, simulation, autonomy, and advanced control algorithms. The Senior Staff Engineer ensures that all aircraft maintain consistent, safe, and reliable flight behavior while pushing performance boundaries for next-generation UAS platforms.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline.
Master’s degree required; Ph.D. preferred for advanced research roles.
10–15+ years of experience in flight controls, GNC, or autonomous-systems engineering.
Demonstrated leadership of system-level GNC architecture across multiple aircraft or programs.
Experience guiding senior engineers and owning technical direction across product lines.
Deep experience with complex, cross-discipline flight-behavior troubleshooting.
Expert-level control-system design: classical, modern, nonlinear, and robust approaches.
Deep experience with sensor-fusion frameworks, advanced estimation theory, and fault-tolerant navigation.
High proficiency with high-fidelity modeling, simulation, aerodynamics integration, and multi-body dynamics.
Strong fluency in MATLAB/Simulink, C/C++, Python, and embedded systems integration.
Ability to assess and guide architecture across avionics, sensors, propulsion, and mechanical interfaces.
Ability to define and enforce technical standards across programs.
Exceptional systems-thinking and ability to anticipate technical and organizational risks.
Excellent communication, with the ability to influence executives and cross-functional leaders.
High situational judgment, especially in safety-critical contexts.
Strong mentoring capability; builds technical depth across the organization.

Nice To Haves

Master's or Ph.D. in Controls, Robotics, Dynamics, or a closely related discipline.
Architecture leadership for autonomous systems, advanced control frameworks, or next-generation flight-control systems.
Experience collaborating with government, defense, or high-assurance certification environments.
Technical leadership in research or advanced development programs (IRAD, innovation efforts).
Experience with MPC, nonlinear optimal control, distributed control, or machine-learning-based control.
Familiarity with advanced autonomy stacks, mission-management systems, or collaborative UAS control.
Experience developing scalable modeling ecosystems (e.g., modular dynamics libraries, high-fidelity environments).
Ability to shape organizational technical culture and long-term capability.
Strong executive-level communication and technical storytelling.
Ability to lead high-ambiguity, high-impact technical efforts.

Responsibilities

Serve as a technical authority for GNC and flight-control architectures across all programs and aircraft families.
Define long-term GNC technical roadmap, shaping system architecture, algorithmic strategy, and modeling frameworks.
Lead resolution of the most challenging, high-risk flight issues spanning dynamics, sensors, avionics, and embedded systems.
Drive cross-program alignment for modeling, controller design, estimator frameworks, and software integration approaches.
Oversee development of advanced control techniques (adaptive control, MPC, robust/nonlinear control, or hybrid autonomy systems).
Lead system-level reviews, architecture boards, and technical gate reviews for major engineering decisions.
Mentor senior and staff-level engineers, developing organizational capability in GNC, autonomy, and simulation.
Support advanced flight-test initiatives, including new airframe bring-up, expanded envelopes, and experimental modes.
Define benchmarking approaches, performance metrics, and data-driven evaluation methods for GNC algorithms.
Participate in strategic planning with engineering leadership, influencing resourcing, tooling investments, and technology priorities.
Represent GNC technical direction to executive leadership, customers, and external stakeholders.