Principal GNC Engineer

Cantos Ventures; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, Vision & Dental

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

Heaviside Industries in Los Angeles, CA builds autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied forces, designed to operate in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed environments.

The role focuses on guidance, navigation, and control system design, state estimation, and high-fidelity simulation. It offers strong GNC ownership, collaboration with software for real-time embedded code, and competitive compensation with long-term incentives.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of GNC engineering experience on missiles, munitions, military UAS, or spacecraft with algorithms designed for real hardware.
• End-to-end ownership of a GNC subsystem: design, simulation, implementation support, flight test, iteration.
• Deep expertise in Kalman filtering and state estimation, including multi-sensor fusion for degraded GPS operation.
• Strong foundation in classical and modern control design, flight dynamics, and 6-DOF simulation development.
• Experience with terminal guidance law design for homing, intercept, or precision strike problems.
• Experience validating GNC algorithms via Monte Carlo and flight test on defense programs.
• [BONUS] MS/PhD in aerospace or related field is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Architect and design guidance, navigation, and control systems for autonomous munitions in GPS-denied environments.
• Own guidance law development for terminal engagement and constrained targets.
• Design and implement state estimation and navigation filters using inertial, RF, and vision data.
• Develop high-fidelity 6-DOF weapon simulations and Monte Carlo analyses for engagement envelopes.
• Develop flight control systems from linear analysis to nonlinear simulation and validate via hardware-in-the-loop.
• Lead flight test data analysis and iterate GNC algorithms between tests.
• Collaborate with software engineers to port algorithms to real-time embedded flight code.

Skills

GNC engineering

Kalman filtering

State estimation

Multi-sensor fusion

Control design

6-DOF simulation

MATLAB/Simulink

C/C++

Python

Flight testing

Education

MS/PhD in aerospace engineering

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

C/C++

Job description

ABOUT HEAVISIDE INDUSTRIES

Heaviside Industries builds multi-domain autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied special operations and conventional forces. While modern warfare has rapidly evolved with the proliferation of unmanned systems, hyper-precise munitions in contested environments are the future of the battlefield. Economical precision strike capabilities are critical to U.S. and allied war efforts, enabling successful defeat of enemy military assets and infrastructure. Heaviside builds precision munitions designed to operate in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed battlefields—where traditional systems degrade or fail—without inflated prices or sacrifice to performance.

All engineering and manufacturing is conducted in-house in Heaviside’s Los Angeles, CA headquarters and Oslo, Norway office.

Heaviside is backed by Interlagos, Menlo Ventures, Flume Ventures, Cantos, Anorak Ventures, and Ravelin Ventures.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Architect and design guidance, navigation, and control systems for autonomous precision munitions operating in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed battlefields.
• Own guidance law development for terminal engagement: trajectory shaping, proportional-navigation-class and optimal guidance approaches, and constrained terminal conditions against fixed and moving targets.
• Design and implement state estimation and navigation filters fusing inertial, RF, and vision-based measurements for operation without GPS.
• Develop and maintain high-fidelity 6-DOF weapon simulations and Monte Carlo analysis frameworks to verify miss distance and GNC performance across the engagement envelope.
• Design flight control systems from linear analysis through nonlinear simulation, and validate through hardware-in-the-loop and flight test at DoD ranges.
• Lead flight test data analysis, anomaly investigation, and iterative refinement of GNC algorithms between test events.
• Work directly with software engineers to transition algorithms to real-time embedded flight code, and mentor engineers across the GNC team.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 10+ years of GNC engineering experience on missiles, munitions, military UAS, or spacecraft, with algorithms you designed flying on real hardware.
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of a GNC subsystem: design, simulation, implementation support, flight test, and iteration.
• Deep expertise in Kalman filtering and state estimation, including multi-sensor fusion architectures for degraded-GPS or GPS-denied operation.
• Strong foundation in classical and modern control design, flight dynamics, and 6-DOF simulation development (MATLAB/Simulink, C/C++, or Python).
• Experience with terminal guidance law design for homing, intercept, or precision strike problems.
• Experience taking GNC algorithms through Monte Carlo verification and flight test validation on defense programs.
• [BONUS] Experience with GPS-denied navigation techniques: visual navigation, terrain-referenced navigation, celestial, or signals-of-opportunity approaches.
• [BONUS] Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in aerospace engineering, controls, or a related field.
• U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62)

Additional Information:

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is $180,000 – $270,000.

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options, access to medical, vision & dental coverage, and access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Heaviside is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Heaviside is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical disability or any other legally protected status.