Senior GNC Engineer - Autonomous Cargo Flight Lead

Hardware FYI; Alameda, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary + equity

Relocation support

Health benefits

6% retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free lunches and snacks

AI tools access

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to own the GNC architecture for autonomous cargo aircraft. You will decide how the aircraft is controlled, how it estimates its state, and how it behaves under sensor or actuator faults, setting the technical bar for the team.

You will lead design reviews, develop flight control laws across all flight phases, and ensure validation with flight data, hardware-in-the-loop tests, and flight tests.

Qualifications

• B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years designing guidance, navigation, or control systems for aircraft, spacecraft, or comparable vehicles.
• Owned the GNC design for a vehicle or major flight phase from requirements through flight.
• Algorithms you designed have flown on a real vehicle.
• Supported a flight test campaign, including flight clearance and post-flight model correlation.
• Designed control or navigation behavior for sensor or actuator failures.
• Led design reviews and set technical direction for other engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own the GNC architecture, including control law structure, navigation solution, guidance modes, and redundancy management.
• Design flight control laws for all phases of flight, including takeoff, landing, and failure cases.
• Design the navigation and state estimation solution, including sensor selection criteria with avionics.
• Define the control response to sensor, actuator, and engine failures, and to loss of link.
• Set stability margin and performance requirements and show that the design meets them across the envelope.
• Own the fidelity of the 6-DOF simulation and its validation against flight data.
• Define GNC requirements and interfaces with flight software, avionics, and flight sciences.
• Define the verification approach across simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and flight test.
• Lead GNC flight clearance for envelope expansion and support flight test on site.
• Lead system identification and model updates from flight data.
• Support system safety assessments and certification evidence for the flight control system.
• Lead design reviews and mentor other GNC engineers.

Skills

GNC architecture

Flight control design

State estimation

System safety

Flight testing

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering or related field

MS/PhD in controls, dynamics, or related field

Tools

6-DOF simulation

Model-based development

DO-178C/DO-331

Hardware-in-the-Loop

Job description

Poseidon Aerospace is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to own the GNC architecture for autonomous cargo aircraft. You will decide how the aircraft is controlled, how it estimates its state, and how it behaves under sensor or actuator faults, setting the technical bar for the team.

You will lead design reviews, develop flight control laws across all flight phases, and ensure validation with flight data, hardware-in-the-loop tests, and flight tests.