Flight Dynamics Engineer

Darwin Recruitment; California (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401k matching

Holiday pay

Leave for pregnancy, family and public

Job summary

Darwin Recruitment in Los Angeles, CA, is seeking a Flight Dynamics Engineer for a hands-on R&D role focused on orbit determination and trajectory analysis. The position is onsite with relocation supported as needed, operating within a small, funded team with hardware already flying.

You will build simulation and analysis tooling to track maneouvres, propagate high-fidelity trajectories, and develop automated tools for on-orbit maneuver reconstruction, while mentoring junior engineers and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in aerospace engineering or related field with focus on astrodynamics.
• Five or more years of experience in orbit determination, state estimation theory and space domain awareness applications.
• Proficiency in orbital mechanics and mission design software.
• Programming in Python, C++ or MATLAB for astrodynamics modelling and estimation tool development.
• Demonstrated leadership, including mentoring junior engineers and driving improvements in engineering process.
• Strong problem solving skills and ability to collaborate in a fast moving environment.
• US person, eligible for DoD Top Secret clearance; sponsorship available.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement advanced orbit determination algorithms and estimators.
• Perform orbit design and trajectory analysis for operational spacecraft.
• Extract trajectory metadata to support system characterisation.
• Develop automated tools to detect, characterise, and reconstruct on-orbit maneuvers.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Document design processes, test results and system performance.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior engineers.

Skills

orbit determination

state estimation theory

space domain awareness

Python

C++

MATLAB

leadership

Education

Bachelors or advanced degree in aerospace engineering with focus on astrodynamics

Tools

ODTK

STK

FreeFlyer

GMAT

Orekit

Docker

Job description

Flight Dynamics Engineer

Los Angeles, California | Full time, onsite | Relocation supported

We are working with a spacecraft technology company in Los Angeles that designs and builds custom satellites for government and prime contractor customers. Small engineering team, funded, with hardware already flying. This is a hands on research and development role.

The role

You will build the simulation and analysis tooling that allows the platform to track, characterise manoeuvres and run high fidelity trajectory analysis on systems already in orbit.

• Design and implement advanced orbit determination algorithms, including extended and unscented Kalman filters and batch estimators, to process multi modal observation data
• Perform orbit design, trajectory analysis and precise state propagation for operational spacecraft
• Extract trajectory related metadata from orbit determination and state estimation work to support wider system characterisation
• Develop automated tools to detect, characterise and reconstruct the manoeuvres of on orbit systems
• Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements
• Document design processes, test results and system performance
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior engineers

What you need

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in aerospace engineering or a related field with a focus on astrodynamics
• Five or more years of experience in orbit determination, state estimation theory and space domain awareness applications
• Proficiency in orbital mechanics and mission design software
• Programming in Python, C++ or MATLAB for astrodynamics modelling and estimation tool development
• Demonstrated leadership, including mentoring junior engineers and driving improvements in engineering process
• Strong problem solving skills and attention to detail, and the ability to collaborate in a fast moving environment
• US person, willing and eligible to obtain a DoD Top Secret security clearance. You do not need to hold one already, as sponsorship is available

Nice to have

• Master's or PhD with a research focus on advanced astrodynamics, non linear estimation theory or multi target tracking
• Deep expertise in advanced filtering techniques such as particle filters, and data association algorithms for crowded space environments
• Advanced proficiency with orbit determination and mission design suites such as ODTK, STK, FreeFlyer, GMAT or Orekit
• Experience processing, calibrating and characterising data from varied space domain awareness sensor modalities, including optical telescopes, phased array radars, RF sensors or spacecraft laser ranging
• Experience taking astrodynamics algorithms from R&D into production, including cloud architectures such as AWS or Azure, containerisation with Docker, or high performance and parallel computing
• Hands on operational experience supporting live spacecraft, including conjunction assessment, collision avoidance manoeuvre planning or resolving navigation anomalies

What is on offer

• Medical, dental and vision paid by the company for the employee.
• flexible vacation.
• 401k matching.
• holiday pay.
• pregnancy, family and military service leave.

Interview travel and relocation are covered. Genuine R&D ownership in a team small enough that your work is visible at company level, with a fast, decisive interview process.