Flight Research Guidance, Navigation and Controls (GNC) Engineer

Joby Aviation; Santa Cruz (CA); On-site; USD 168,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401(k) with company match

ESPP

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Paid time off

RSUs

Job summary

Joby Aviation’s Flight Research team seeks an experienced GNC Engineer to advance flight controls for VTOL/CTOL aircraft. You will develop high-quality flight controls software and contribute to stability analyses, simulation tools, and autonomous flight concepts while supporting flight testing from remote ground stations.

The role demands 8+ years in the field, deep knowledge of aircraft dynamics and modern control methods, and strong C++/Python programming skills, with

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in relevant field
• Bachelor's degree
• Expert level understanding of aircraft dynamics
• Expert level knowledge of robust and optimal control
• Experience writing real-time and safety-critical C++ flight software
• Experience developing simulation and tools for linear analysis of dynamic systems (open-loop and closed-loop)
• Experience writing C++ and Python in a professional environment
• Experience with real-time signal processing

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality flight controls software (C++) for VTOL and CTOL aircraft.
• Contribute to stability and performance analysis tools (C++/Python).
• Formulate test plans to demonstrate robustness and performance of solutions.
• Support flight testing as a crewmember in a remote ground station.
• Collaborate with software and controls team to ideate and implement integrated solutions.

Skills

Flight controls

C++

Real-time software

Control theory

Python

Simulation tools

Signal processing

Flight testing

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

• Bachelors degree

Joby Flight Research designs, develops, and flight-tests novel aircraft using a software-first autonomy approach. We build and deploy autonomy, perception, planning, and radar systems across conventional, electric, and hydrogen-electric aircraft in both CTOL and VTOL configurations.

Overview

Joby Aviation’s Flight Research team is looking for an experienced and driven Guidance, Navigation and Controls (GNC) Engineer to contribute to the research and development of new aircraft configurations. We are a small, close-knit and agile team; the engineer will work closely with other software/controls engineers to develop simulation capabilities, control algorithms ranging from stabilization to basic autonomy, and analyses/tests to leverage simulation software for aircraft design and rapid iteration. The engineer will be expected to deliver high quality flight controls software, act with agency, and be capable of picking up a wide variety of tasks.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality and well thought out flight controls software (C++) for VTOL and CTOL aircraft.
• Contribute heavily to open-loop and closed-loop stability and performance analysis tools (C++/Python).
• Formulate test plans to demonstrate robustness and performance of solutions.
• Directly support flight testing of various aircraft platforms as a required crewmember in a remote ground station.
• Collaborate closely with the rest of the software & controls team to ideate, plan and execute on high quality, well integrated solutions.

Required

• 8+ years experience in relevant field
• Bachelors degree
• Expert level understanding of aircraft dynamics
• Expert level knowledge of modern control methods including robust control and optimal control.
• Experience writing real-time and safety-critical C++ flight software.
• Experience developing simulation and tools for linear analysis of dynamic systems (open-loop and closed-loop)
• Experience writing C++ and Python in a professional environment.
• Experience with real-time signal processing

This position must meet US export control compliance requirements, therefore a candidate must qualify as a “US Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R.

• 120.15. “US Person” includes US Citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, or asylees.

Desired

• Experience developing flight-test experiments for quantitative characterization of controls performance
• Experience with system ID analysis techniques and testing methods
• Experience developing flight controls and flight automation algorithms for both CTOL and VTOL aircraft
• Experience with automatic differentiation tools

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $167,900 - $202,600 /yr . The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

Additional Information

Joby Aviation is an equal opportunity employer.