Flight Dynamics Engineer

Motive Workforce Solutions; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Motive Workforce is partnering with a Los Angeles-based spacecraft technology company seeking an experienced Spacecraft Flight Dynamics Engineer to join the flight program team. This role is highly hands-on and will support spacecraft from design and simulation through hardware integration, testing, and live on-orbit operations.

The ideal candidate brings strong experience across spacecraft flight dynamics, attitude determination and control, guidance and navigation, propulsion, simulation, and

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in spacecraft flight dynamics, ADS, and GNC.
• Hands-on role from design and simulation to hardware integration and live operations.
• Ability to mentor junior engineers and improve flight dynamics processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead integration, interface development, and performance requirements for ADCS and GNC hardware.
• Develop high-fidelity flight dynamics models for trajectory analysis and propellant budgeting.
• Tune control laws for spacecraft pointing, detumbling, momentum management, and station-keeping.
• Model and simulate with STK, Python, MATLAB, or similar platforms.
• Collaborate with Avionics, Flight Software, Systems Engineering, and AI&T teams for integration.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop testing and live flight operations.
• Transition designs from design/simulation to live operations and assist anomaly investigations.
• Maintain documentation on system design, simulations, tests, interfaces, and performance.

Skills

Flight dynamics

Attitude control

Guidance navigation

Propulsion

Modeling & simulation

Real-time ops

STK

Python

MATLAB

Team mentorship

Tools

STK

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Motive Workforce is partnering with a Los Angeles-based spacecraft technology company developing advanced, purpose-built spacecraft and mission solutions for commercial, scientific, and national security applications. We are seeking an experienced Spacecraft Flight Dynamics Engineer to join the flight program team. This role is highly hands-on and will support spacecraft from design and simulation through hardware integration, testing, and live on-orbit operations. The ideal candidate brings strong experience across spacecraft flight dynamics, attitude determination and control, guidance and navigation, propulsion, simulation, and real-time flight operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical integration, interface development, vendor coordination, and performance requirements for ADCS, propulsion systems, and GNC hardware.
• Develop high-fidelity flight dynamics models for trajectory analysis, momentum management, maneuver planning, and propellant budgeting.
• Develop and tune control laws for spacecraft pointing, detumbling, momentum management, and station-keeping.
• Perform modeling and simulation using tools such as STK, Python, MATLAB, or comparable flight dynamics platforms.
• Work closely with Avionics, Flight Software, Systems Engineering, and AI&T teams to integrate and calibrate flight dynamics hardware within the spacecraft bus.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop testing, spacecraft integration, and system-level verification activities.
• Transition spacecraft from design and simulation into live flight operations.
• Support on-console operations, including maneuver execution, anomaly investigation, troubleshooting, and recovery.
• Evaluate spacecraft performance and recommend improvements based on simulation, test, and on-orbit data.
• Maintain technical documentation covering system design, simulations, test results, interfaces, and spacecraft performance.
• Support compliance with applicable aerospace standards and regulatory requirements.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to improvements in flight dynamics engineering processes.