Founding GNC Engineer - Lead Guidance and Control

Approach Venture; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding-stage equity

Performance-based bonuses

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Company-provided meals

Paid time off and company holidays

Job summary

Approach Venture in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Founding GNC Engineer to own the guidance, navigation, and control stack of a new interceptor system. You will lead state estimation, sensor fusion, and flight-control algorithms, from flight-proven foundations to evolving configurations.

Work across software, hardware, and test environments, extend simulations, develop production-quality C/C++ code, and collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and propulsion teams to mature the vehicle toward

Qualifications

• Experience with GNC software on real hardware (aircraft, missiles, drones or robotics).
• Strong state estimation and sensor fusion knowledge.
• Familiarity with Kalman filtering or nonlinear estimators.
• Background in classical/modern control theory.
• Production/embedded software in C/C++.

Responsibilities

• Own the complete GNC stack across state estimation, guidance, flight control, control allocation, and vehicle autonomy.
• Advance flight-proven algorithms to a robust system for broader targets and conditions.
• Develop target tracking, state estimation, and multi-sensor fusion.

Skills

State estimation

Sensor fusion

C/C++

Python

GNC software

Flight-test analysis

Hardware integration

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Applied Mathematics

Tools

C/C++

Python

Simulation environments

Job description

Approach Venture in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Founding GNC Engineer to own the guidance, navigation, and control stack of a new interceptor system. You will lead state estimation, sensor fusion, and flight-control algorithms, from flight-proven foundations to evolving configurations.

Work across software, hardware, and test environments, extend simulations, develop production-quality C/C++ code, and collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and propulsion teams to mature the vehicle toward