Autonomy GNC Engineer: Flight Control & State Estimation

Society of Defense Financial Management; Rock Hill (SC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Powerus is seeking a GNC Engineer in the United States to design, implement, and validate guidance, navigation, and control systems for unmanned aircraft. You will develop control laws and state estimation, tune across the flight envelope, build the simulation used to verify behaviour before flight, and support flight test through envelope expansion.

You will work closely with aerodynamics, embedded software, and test engineering to ensure robust, safe performance across airframes and

Qualifications

• Must be located in the United States, within commuting distance of Rock Hill, SC
• Degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, or a related field
• Experience developing control systems or state estimation for aircraft, robotics, or vehicles
• Strong command of control theory and its practical application
• Proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink and with C or C++ for implementation
• Experience supporting or conducting flight or vehicle test
• U.S. Person status required (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)); this role involves access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled technical data

Responsibilities

• Design and implement guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for multirotor and fixed-wing platforms
• Develop state estimation and sensor fusion for attitude, position, and velocity
• Build and maintain simulation models used to validate control behaviour before flight
• Tune and validate control performance across the flight envelope and across configurations
• Support flight test, including test planning, on-site tuning, and post-flight analysis
• Analyse flight data to characterise vehicle behaviour and identify model error
• Define failure detection and safe-state behaviour for degraded sensing or actuation
• Document control architecture, gains, and validation evidence

Skills

MATLAB/Simulink

C/C++

Control theory

Flight testing

State estimation

Education

Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Eng

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

Job description

Powerus is seeking a GNC Engineer in the United States to design, implement, and validate guidance, navigation, and control systems for unmanned aircraft. You will develop control laws and state estimation, tune across the flight envelope, build the simulation used to verify behaviour before flight, and support flight test through envelope expansion.

You will work closely with aerodynamics, embedded software, and test engineering to ensure robust, safe performance across airframes and