GNC Engineer: High-Speed Flight Guidance & Controls

Wardstone (YC F25); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology firm specializing in aerospace solutions is looking for a Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer. This role involves designing guidance algorithms for high-speed dynamics and implementing controls for UAVs. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in state estimation and control theory, and must hold a B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering. Familiarity with tools like MATLAB and C++ is essential for this position, which offers a competitive salary range of $120,000 - $180,000 per year.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Controls, or similar.
• Deep understanding of classical and modern control theory.
• Experience building 6DOF flight simulations (MATLAB, Simulink, Python, C++).
• Strong background in state estimation, nonlinear dynamics, filtering, or guidance algorithms.
• Hands-on experience tuning controllers for UAVs, rockets, missiles, or autonomous systems.
• Familiarity with coordinate frames, quaternion math, and navigation transformations.
• US CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED

Responsibilities

• Design guidance laws for midcourse and terminal homing under high-speed dynamics.
• Implement robust control strategies for high-G maneuvers.
• Conduct hardware-in-the-loop tests with scene generators and real sensors.
• Work with perception engineers to integrate vision-based tracking.

Skills

Control theory

State estimation

Guidance algorithms

Nonlinear dynamics

UAV tuning

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

Simulink

Python

C++

Job description

A technology firm specializing in aerospace solutions is looking for a Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer. This role involves designing guidance algorithms for high-speed dynamics and implementing controls for UAVs. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in state estimation and control theory, and must hold a B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering. Familiarity with tools like MATLAB and C++ is essential for this position, which offers a competitive salary range of $120,000 - $180,000 per year.