GNC Simulation Engineer: Advanced 6-DoF Modeling

Xona; Burlingame (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona is seeking a GNC Engineer to develop high-fidelity simulation environments for space vehicle guidance, navigation, and control. You will build nonlinear 6-DoF digital twins, flexible-body models, and physics-based subsystems to support design, analysis, and flight data validation.

Collaborate across GNC, structures, and test teams to ensure model fidelity. Proficiency in MATLAB, C++, Git, and Linux is essential for model-based software development and verification.

Qualifications

• Experience developing nonlinear six-degree-of-freedom simulation platforms for aerospace vehicles.
• Experience modeling and validating aerospace vehicle dynamics, sensors, actuators, environmental effects, and other vehicle subsystems.
• Experience developing or integrating flexible-body and structural-dynamics models.
• Strong understanding of rigid-body dynamics, control systems, numerical methods, and linear systems.
• Expertise in system identification and deriving linear approximations of nonlinear dynamic systems.
• Experience with model-based software development and verification processes.
• Strong proficiency in MATLAB, C++, Git, and Linux development environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and validate high-fidelity nonlinear six-degree-of-freedom digital twin of the spacecraft bus for design, analysis, and verification.
• Develop flexible-body and structural-dynamics models for integration into vehicle simulations.
• Build and validate physics-based models of vehicle dynamics, sensors, actuators, environmental disturbances, and other subsystems.
• Apply system identification techniques to estimate system parameters and improve model fidelity.
• Derive linear approximate models from nonlinear systems using numerical and analytical techniques.
• Develop simulation capabilities supporting control design, Monte Carlo analysis, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Contribute to model-based software development, verification, documentation, and technical reviews.

Skills

Nonlinear six-DoF simulation

Rigid-body dynamics

Control systems

System identification

Numerical methods

Linearization of nonlinear systems

Model-based software development

MATLAB

C++

Git

Linux development environments

Education

Master’s degree or Ph.D. in aerospace engineering/controls/robotics/applied mathematics

Tools

MATLAB

C++

Git

Linux

Job description

Xona is seeking a GNC Engineer to develop high-fidelity simulation environments for space vehicle guidance, navigation, and control. You will build nonlinear 6-DoF digital twins, flexible-body models, and physics-based subsystems to support design, analysis, and flight data validation.

Collaborate across GNC, structures, and test teams to ensure model fidelity. Proficiency in MATLAB, C++, Git, and Linux is essential for model-based software development and verification.