Senior GNC Engineer: Mission Formulation & Trajectory

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 162,000 - 243,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab seeks a Senior GNC Engineer II for mission formulation, based in Long Beach, CA or Littleton, CO. You will lead GNC design, modeling, and testing for launches, working with cross‑functional teams to bring new missions to life.

The role requires 8+ years in engineering, real‑time control experience, and strong collaboration skills. Travel and security clearances may apply; you will shape high‑visibility space programs with comprehensive compensation and equity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering) required.
• 8+ years in engineering/analytical role.
• Proven real‑time control/estimation experience for autonomous vehicles, preferably launch vehicles.

Responsibilities

• GNC concept development for proposals and mission definitions.
• Perform orbital and trajectory design and analysis.
• Collaborate with stakeholders on mission requirements engineering.
• Document GNC solutions and participate in design reviews with customers.
• Support hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing to verify trajectories, GNC, and flight code performance.
• Run Monte Carlo simulations to define launch and mission operations.
• Develop and support flight code releases for ground testing and flight operations.
• Conduct flight safety analyses prior to launch and provide day‑of‑launch support.
• Verify readiness of AFTS hardware and software.
• Develop tools to automate common GNC modelling and analysis tasks.
• Plan daily work to meet higher level tasks.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering)

Tools

Python

MATLAB

C/C++

Git

POST

ASTOS

TAOS

SciPy

Job description

Rocket Lab seeks a Senior GNC Engineer II for mission formulation, based in Long Beach, CA or Littleton, CO. You will lead GNC design, modeling, and testing for launches, working with cross‑functional teams to bring new missions to life.

The role requires 8+ years in engineering, real‑time control experience, and strong collaboration skills. Travel and security clearances may apply; you will shape high‑visibility space programs with comprehensive compensation and equity.