GNC Engineer: Precision Spacecraft Pointing & Maneuvering

Approach Venture LLC; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

No-cost medical, dental, and vision

Equity

Relocation support

Hybrid or remote-with-travel

Job summary

Approach Venture LLC in San Francisco is seeking a GNC Engineer to own the spacecraft's guidance, navigation, and control, including attitude determination and laser pointing. You will develop the algorithms from first principles and carry them into flight software on a small, collaborative team.

This role covers high-precision pointing, STK/MATLAB workflows, and hardware-in-the-loop testing, with hybrid or remote-with-travel options and relocation support if needed.

Qualifications

• 5+ years developing GNC or attitude control systems for spacecraft or autonomous vehicles.
• Strong foundation in rigid-body dynamics, orbital mechanics, control theory, and Kalman filtering.
• Experience writing GNC algorithms from first principles and validating in hardware or flight.
• Proficiency in C++ or Python plus MATLAB/Simulink or equivalent tools.
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident, willing to obtain a security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own guidance, navigation, and control for the spacecraft from architecture through flight.
• Design attitude determination and control algorithms for slewing, tracking, and pointing lasers.
• Develop orbit maneuvering, relative motion, and proximity guidance for objects in orbit.
• Build state estimation and sensor fusion using star trackers, IMUs, GNSS, and payload sensors.
• Write flight-ready GNC code and integrate with flight software and avionics.
• Run software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing and support on-orbit operations.
• Shape mission design, concept of operations, and system trade studies.

Skills

GNC

Attitude control

Kalman filtering

C++/Python

Flight software

Education

Aerospace Eng

Mechanical Eng

Electrical Eng

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

STK

GMAT

Python

Job description

Approach Venture LLC in San Francisco is seeking a GNC Engineer to own the spacecraft's guidance, navigation, and control, including attitude determination and laser pointing. You will develop the algorithms from first principles and carry them into flight software on a small, collaborative team.

This role covers high-precision pointing, STK/MATLAB workflows, and hardware-in-the-loop testing, with hybrid or remote-with-travel options and relocation support if needed.