Senior GNC Engineer — Mission Formulation Lead

Rocket Lab; Littleton (CO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Littleton, CO is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer II to lead guidance, navigation and control analyses for launch missions. You will perform trajectory design, Monte Carlo analyses, and develop flight code for pre-launch testing and operations, collaborating across teams and with customers.

The role requires a strong background in GNC/ADCS, orbital mechanics, and real-time algorithm development, with the ability to work with government security clearances and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; 5+ years in GNC/ADCS is preferred.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics and closed-loop control systems.
• Experience with trajectory optimization and real-time control/estimation algorithms.
• Security clearance (Active Secret or ability to obtain) is required.

Responsibilities

• GNC contact to Business Development for proposals and mission definition
• Launch and mission operational concept development
• Orbital and suborbital trajectory design and analysis
• Work with external stakeholders and customers for mission-specific requirements engineering
• Document proposed GNC solutions and participate in design reviews with customers
• Support hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing to verify trajectories, GNC, and flight code performance
• Conduct Monte Carlo simulation analyses to define and verify launch and mission operations
• Develop and support release of flight code for pre-launch ground testing, launch, and mission operations
• Develop tools and processes for automating common GNC modelling and analysis tasks

Skills

GNC/ADCS

Orbital mechanics

Trajectory optimization

Real-time control algorithms

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Tools

git version control

Python development

MATLAB/SciPy

POST/ASTOS/TAOS

C/C++ development

HITL testing tools

Job description

Rocket Lab in Littleton, CO is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer II to lead guidance, navigation and control analyses for launch missions. You will perform trajectory design, Monte Carlo analyses, and develop flight code for pre-launch testing and operations, collaborating across teams and with customers.

The role requires a strong background in GNC/ADCS, orbital mechanics, and real-time algorithm development, with the ability to work with government security clearances and external stakeholders.