Senior GNC Engineer: Launch Vehicle Control & Trajectory

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; 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, headquartered in north Austin, Texas, is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, 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 advanced control theory, real-time embedded development, and mission design with opportunities to influence

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or related field.
• 5–10 years of experience in launch vehicle GNC systems with depth in attitude control design, flight software, trajectory design, mission planning, or guidance development.
• Advanced knowledge of attitude dynamics and control theory, including rotational dynamics and stability analysis.
• Strong understanding of classical control theory and frequency domain analysis techniques.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, and tune launch vehicle attitude control software for stable flight from launch to orbit.
• Implement control techniques for mission-critical flight phases using thrust vector control actuators, thrusters, and aerodynamic surfaces.
• Develop control systems considering complex launch vehicle dynamics including aerodynamics, flex modes, propellant slosh, and CSCI.
• Design, analyze, and optimize launch vehicle trajectories within constraints to maximize performance.
• Develop and implement launch vehicle guidance algorithms for powered ascent and orbital insertion.
• Conduct stability analysis, sensitivity studies, and performance optimization for control systems.
• Establish standards and validation methodologies for control system design and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Mentor junior engineers in control theory, flight software development, and trajectory optimization.

Skills

Attitude dynamics

Control theory

Real-time software

C++

Trajectory design

Python scripting

Flight software development

Kalman filtering

System integration

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering or related field

Master's or PhD in aerospace/related field

Tools

POST

OTIS

TAOS

Git

CI/CD workflows

Python

Job description

Firefly Aerospace, headquartered in north Austin, Texas, is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, 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 advanced control theory, real-time embedded development, and mission design with opportunities to influence