GNC Engineer II

True Anomaly; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental, and Vision insurance

Equity

401K

Parental Leave

PTO and paid holidays

Job summary

True Anomaly is seeking a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer to develop and maintain GNC systems for autonomous spacecraft. The role requires strong analytical skills and a solid background in aerospace engineering, ideally with 2-4 years of relevant experience.

This position is located in Long Beach, CA, and offers a competitive salary along with equity and comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, 401K, and paid leave.

Qualifications

• 2 - 4 years of relevant GNC Engineering experience in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Coursework or project experience in spacecraft attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, and control systems.
• Familiarity with spacecraft GNC concepts, such as sensors, actuators, state estimation, and control laws.
• Exposure to filtering or estimation methods (e.g., Kalman filters) through internships, coursework, or projects.

Responsibilities

• Own all aspects of GNC system development, including architecture definition, algorithm design, and testing.
• Conduct trade studies and provide design recommendations for GNC hardware.
• Work cross-functionally with avionics, propulsion, software, mission operations, and systems teams.

Skills

Knowledge of aerospace engineering

Proficiency in C++ and/or Python

Strong analytical skills

Experience with software development principles

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or related field

Tools

Flight simulation tools

Control analysis tools

Job description

Overview

Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it.

Our Mission

True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors — enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.

Our Values

• Be the offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.
• What would it take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.
• It’s the people. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.

Responsibilities

• Own all aspects of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) system development, including architecture definition, algorithm design, verification, hardware integration, and on-orbit operations.
• Design, test, and validate GNC flight software and embedded algorithms for spacecraft operating in LEO, GEO, and other orbit regimes.
• Develop and maintain spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Determination & Estimation (AOD/AOE) algorithms, including sensor fusion and filtering frameworks (e.g., EKF, UKF, batch least-squares).
• Conduct trade studies and provide design recommendations for GNC hardware such as reaction wheels, torque rods, thrusters, star trackers, sun sensors, IMUs, and RF/optical navigation sensors.
• Develop GNC algorithms and implement them in flight software; verify performance and robustness through high-fidelity simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Design, implement, and improve high-fidelity 6-DOF simulation environments for SIL, HIL, and advanced mission analysis.
• Utilize and enhance frequency-domain and time-domain control analysis tools to ensure stability margins, disturbance rejection, and performance in off-nominal conditions.
• Define system- and subsystem-level GNC requirements, interfaces, and verification plans in collaboration with systems engineering.
• Work cross-functionally with avionics, propulsion, software, mission operations, and systems teams to ensure seamless integration of GNC functionality.
• Support on-orbit commissioning, system calibration, maneuver planning, and anomaly resolution throughout mission operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or related field
• 2 - 4 years of relevant GNC Engineering experience in the aerospace and defense industry
• Coursework or project experience in spacecraft attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, and control systems
• Strong understanding of physics, attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, and software development principles
• Internship or project experience in GNC, control systems, or simulation development
• Experience with C++ and/or Python for algorithm development, numerical methods, or simulation
• Familiarity with spacecraft GNC concepts, such as sensors, actuators, state estimation, and control laws
• Exposure to filtering or estimation methods (e.g., Kalman filters) through internships, coursework, or projects
• Ability to build, test, and debug software and simulation tools
• Strong analytical skills and ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary engineering environment
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of tasks and learn new concepts quickly

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in aerospace engineering or equivalent discipline
• Experience with closed-loop control, orbital maneuvering, filtering, state estimation, fault management, and software development
• Experience developing simulation environments for spaceflight physics
• Experience with flight operations and solving problems real-time on console
• Experience performing line of sight performance analysis such as jitter, smear, and pointing accuracy
• Experience doing hands‑on GNC hardware testing
• Ability to maintain or obtain TS//SCI US government security clearance

Compensation

• Colorado Base Salary: $90,000 - $155,000
• Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Additional Requirements

• Work Location—This is an onsite position, Successful candidates will be located near Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA
• Work environment—the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
• Physical demands—the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

True Anomaly is committed to equal employment opportunity on any basis protected by applicable state and federal laws. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us.