Senior GNC Engineer: Attitude Control & Trajectory Expert

firefly; Town of Texas (WI); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision plans

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace seeks a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, autonomous flight software, and guidance algorithms for launch vehicles. You will tune attitude control software, optimize trajectories, and support hardware-in-the-loop testing while mentoring junior engineers in a fast-paced environment.

The role combines control theory, real-time embedded systems, and hands-on flight operations, with opportunities to contribute to system architecture and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, computer science or related field.
• 5–10 years in launch vehicle GNC systems with depth in attitude control, flight software, or trajectory design.
• Advanced knowledge of attitude dynamics, control theory, and stability analysis.
• Real-time software development experience for flight-critical systems (C++).
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing and requirement verification.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, and tune attitude control software for flight stability from launch to orbit.
• Develop control techniques for mission phases using thrust vector control and thrusters.
• Model launch vehicle dynamics including aerodynamic and propulsive effects.
• Design and optimize launch vehicle trajectories to maximize performance.
• Develop guidance algorithms for powered ascent and orbital insertion.

Skills

Attitude control theory

Real-time software (C++)

Trajectory design

GNC systems

Hardware-in-the-loop testing

GNC tools (POST/OTIS/TAOS)

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

C++

Git

Python

POST/OTIS/TAOS

Job description

Firefly Aerospace seeks a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, autonomous flight software, and guidance algorithms for launch vehicles. You will tune attitude control software, optimize trajectories, and support hardware-in-the-loop testing while mentoring junior engineers in a fast-paced environment.

The role combines control theory, real-time embedded systems, and hands-on flight operations, with opportunities to contribute to system architecture and