Lead GNC Engineer

EVONA; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

EVONA in Boulder, CO is seeking a Lead GNC Engineer to build and lead the GNC team for next‑gen orbital mobility solutions. This hands‑on leadership role requires owning algorithms from design through test and deploying them in hardware‑in‑the‑loop environments.

You will recruit, mentor, and manage engineers, define the architecture and standards for spacecraft propulsion GNC, and drive verification through flight and simulation.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of GNC experience on space vehicles with ownership of algorithms from design through implementation and test.
• At least 2 years of experience leading engineers or as a technical lead with people management responsibility.
• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Build the GNC team: define roles, recruit, hire, and onboard.
• Provide people management: goals, direction, career growth, performance.
• Set the GNC architecture, roadmap, and standards across spacecraft and propulsion programs.
• Plan and prioritize GNC work across programs, including scope, staffing, and schedule; escalate risks.
• Design and implement GNC flight algorithms for spacecraft and propulsion systems; include burn execution and trajectory correction.
• Own the GNC flight code: architecture, implementation, reviews, configuration, verification.
• Lead development of 6-DOF simulation capability for burn execution and dispersion analysis.
• Perform stability analysis of control loops and document to flight-review standards.
• Define HIL test campaigns and validate flight software against simulation truth models and HIL results.
• Represent GNC in mission design reviews and with customers; deliver pointing budgets, error models, and dispersion results.

Skills

GNC design

People management

Flight software

MATLAB/Simulink

C or Rust

HIL testing

Model-based design

Control theory

Attitude dynamics

Orbital mechanics

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, physics, or related field

Tools

cFS

F Prime

RTOS

Job description

Boulder, CO (Remote for first 3 - 6 months - then potential for Hybrid)

A pioneering space company developing next-gen orbital mobility solutions & Spacecraft are hiring a Lead GNC Engineer to build and lead the guidance, navigation, and control team that will support our growing spacecraft programs. This is a hands-on leadership role for an engineer who doesn’t just design algorithms but ships them, and who wants to build a team that does the same.

In this role, you will hire, develop, and manage a team of GNC engineers while remaining technically active in the work. You will set the GNC architecture, engineering standards, and roadmap for our spacecraft and propulsion systems; implement and validate flight algorithms through hardware-in-the-loop testing; and represent GNC in design reviews and with customers.

Responsibilities:

• Build the GNC team: define the roles and skills needed to support our spacecraft programs, and lead recruiting, hiring, and onboarding.
• Provide people management for GNC engineers, including setting goals, directing work, supporting career growth, and managing performance.
• Define the GNC architecture, technical roadmap, and engineering standards across spacecraft and propulsion programs, including review standards, configuration management, and verification practices.
• Plan and prioritize GNC work across programs, including scope, staffing, and schedule, and escalatet risks and resource needs to leadership.
• Design and implement GNC flight algorithms for spacecraft and propulsion systems (chemical and electric), including closed-loop burn execution, thrust and delta-v estimation, burn targeting, cutoff logic, and trajectory correction maneuvers.
• Own the GNC flight code: architecture, implementation, review standards, configuration management, and verification evidence.
• Lead development of six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) simulation capability for burn execution and dispersion analysis across multiple programs.
• Ensure stability analysis of control loops (classical margins, disturbance and slosh interaction, and actuator and sensor dynamics) is performed and documented to flight-review standards.
• Define hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test campaigns, including what to test, pass/fail criteria, fault injection cases, and test procedures, and validate flight software against simulation truth models and HIL results.
• Represent GNC in mission design reviews (PDR/CDR) and with customers, delivering analysis products such as pointing budgets, execution-error models, and dispersion results.

Experience required:

• Candidates must have a minimum of 8 years of GNC experience on space vehicles, with demonstrated ownership of algorithms from design through implementation and test.
• Candidates must have at least 2 years of experience leading engineers, as a people manager or a technical lead with responsibility for others’ work.
• Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, or a related field.
• Experience with:
• Hiring, developing, and managing engineers, and building a team’s technical culture and practices.
• Validating GNC software through hardware-in-the-loop testing, including defining test objectives and criteria.
• Flight software frameworks ("e.g., cFS or F Prime") and real-time operating systems.
• MATLAB/Simulink, including model-based design of flight algorithms.
• Solid foundation in control theory and stability analysis (frequency- and time-domain methods, robustness margins).
• Working knowledge of spacecraft attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, and propulsive maneuver design.
• Working knowledge of spacecraft mission operations, including ground-to-spacecraft communications, command and telemetry interfaces, and the operational constraints of executing GNC activities in flight.
• Hands-on experience with spacecraft sensors, including their operating principles, hardware interfaces, calibration, integration, and limitations in real-world flight systems.
• Practical experience developing and implementing GNC for propulsive spacecraft, including maneuver planning, thrust vector control, burn execution, and the interaction between propulsion systems and spacecraft dynamics.

Desirable experience - Experience with:

• Building a GNC team or function from an early stage.
• Full spacecraft GNC beyond propulsion, including attitude determination and control, sensor and actuator selection, and fault management.
• Taking GNC from design through flight and on-orbit operations.
• Writing flight or embedded software in C or Rust.
• Propulsion-specific GNC, such as finite-burn effects, thrust and Isp uncertainty, propellant slosh, and optimal jet select.
• Both chemical and electric propulsion control (long-duration low-thrust guidance a plus).
• Rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) guidance and relative navigation.
• Strapdown navigation, IMU error modeling, and sensor fusion.
• Monte Carlo and linear covariance dispersion analysis.
• Supporting government programs (e.g., NASA, DoD, or SBIR/STTR).