Senior GNC Engineer - Navigation & Estimation

Approach Venture; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and eye

Life and disability insurance

Paid parental leave

Three weeks of paid vacation

Job summary

Approach Venture in Denver, CO seeks a Senior GNC Engineer to lead navigation and state estimation software for autonomous spacecraft operations. You will own flight-critical navigation and state estimation across rendezvous, docking, and formation flight, interfacing with controls, perception, avionics, and embedded software teams.

The role requires hands-on design and validation of Kalman Filters, sensor fusion, and orbital mechanics knowledge, with heavy emphasis on robust estimation from

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of professional experience developing guidance, navigation, or state estimation systems.
• Strong software development experience using modern C++ and Python.
• Experience designing and implementing Kalman Filters or similar sequential estimation techniques.
• Experience developing sensor fusion algorithms for autonomous systems.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, rigid-body dynamics, coordinate transformations, and feedback control systems.
• Experience developing algorithms that have been validated through simulation, hardware testing, or operational deployment.
• Familiarity with software development best practices, version control, and collaborative engineering workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of spacecraft navigation and state estimation algorithms for autonomous flight operations.
• Design, implement, tune, and validate Extended Kalman Filters, Unscented Kalman Filters, and other probabilistic estimation techniques.
• Develop relative navigation algorithms supporting rendezvous, docking, proximity operations, and formation flight.
• Design onboard sensor fusion architectures integrating multiple navigation sensors into robust state estimates.
• Develop measurement models and estimation techniques for optical, inertial, and ranging sensors.
• Define navigation system accuracy requirements and allocate error budgets across sensing and estimation systems.
• Develop orbit determination, orbital propagation, and absolute navigation algorithms supporting spacecraft operations.
• Analyze navigation performance using simulation, hardware testing, and flight data.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing campaigns.
• Develop analysis tools, visualization utilities, and validation software using C++ and Python.
• Investigate navigation anomalies and improve estimator robustness throughout system development and flight operations.
• Collaborate closely with controls, perception, avionics, embedded software, and systems engineering teams to integrate navigation capabilities into the overall flight system.
• Participate in design reviews, technical trade studies, and system architecture decisions.

Skills

C++

Python

Kalman Filters

Sensor fusion

Orbital mechanics

State estimation

Embedded software

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

Git

Job description

Senior GNC Engineer - Develop Autonomous Navigation & Sensor Fusion for Next-Generation Spacecraft

Denver, Colorado | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a venture-backed aerospace company developing advanced spacecraft platforms designed to enable the next generation of autonomous in-space operations. As the company progresses from prototype development toward flight-qualified systems, this role will lead the design and implementation of the navigation algorithms that allow spacecraft to accurately determine their position, orientation, and motion while operating in dynamic orbital environments. As a Senior GNC Engineer, you will own the development of flight-critical navigation and state estimation software supporting autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, and long-term orbital navigation. Working alongside controls, perception, avionics, embedded software, and systems engineering teams, you'll transform complex sensor data into reliable vehicle state information while helping define the navigation architecture for future spacecraft. This is a highly technical role with significant ownership, offering the opportunity to influence both flight software and overall vehicle performance from concept through on-orbit operations.

About Us

We are an early-stage aerospace company building advanced spacecraft technologies for future commercial and government space missions. Our multidisciplinary engineering team develops tightly integrated hardware, software, and autonomous systems that solve complex challenges in spacecraft mobility, guidance, and in-space operations. Engineers work across disciplines, take ownership of critical systems, and play a direct role in moving products from early design through flight.

Job Duties

• Lead the development of spacecraft navigation and state estimation algorithms for autonomous flight operations.
• Design, implement, tune, and validate Extended Kalman Filters, Unscented Kalman Filters, and other probabilistic estimation techniques.
• Develop relative navigation algorithms supporting rendezvous, docking, proximity operations, and formation flight.
• Design onboard sensor fusion architectures integrating multiple navigation sensors into robust state estimates.
• Develop measurement models and estimation techniques for optical, inertial, and ranging sensors.
• Define navigation system accuracy requirements and allocate error budgets across sensing and estimation systems.
• Develop orbit determination, orbital propagation, and absolute navigation algorithms supporting spacecraft operations.
• Analyze navigation performance using simulation, hardware testing, and flight data.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing campaigns.
• Develop analysis tools, visualization utilities, and validation software using C++ and Python.
• Investigate navigation anomalies and improve estimator robustness throughout system development and flight operations.
• Collaborate closely with controls, perception, avionics, embedded software, and systems engineering teams to integrate navigation capabilities into the overall flight system.
• Participate in design reviews, technical trade studies, and system architecture decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of professional experience developing guidance, navigation, or state estimation systems.
• Strong software development experience using modern C++ and Python.
• Experience designing and implementing Kalman Filters or similar sequential estimation techniques.
• Experience developing sensor fusion algorithms for autonomous systems.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics, rigid-body dynamics, coordinate transformations, and feedback control systems.
• Experience developing algorithms that have been validated through simulation, hardware testing, or operational deployment.
• Familiarity with software development best practices, version control, and collaborative engineering workflows.

Preferred Experience

• Master's or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a related discipline.
• Experience with spacecraft rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, or formation flying.
• Computer vision, optical navigation, or image-based state estimation.
• Orbit determination and high-fidelity orbital propagation.
• Sensor modeling, calibration, and measurement processing.
• IMUs, cameras, LiDAR, radar, magnetometers, star trackers, or other navigation sensors.
• Statistical analysis, covariance analysis, estimator tuning, and navigation performance validation.
• Embedded flight software development.
• Autonomous robotics, UAVs, spacecraft, or other mission-critical autonomous systems.
• Experience supporting flight operations or post-launch system performance analysis.

Why Join Us

• Own the navigation architecture for a next-generation spacecraft platform.
• Develop flight-critical autonomy from concept through operational deployment.
• Work alongside a highly collaborative multidisciplinary engineering team.
• Significant technical ownership with direct influence on product direction.
• Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity opportunity.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Paid parental leave.
• Three weeks of paid vacation plus company holidays.

Compensation Details

$120,000 - $160,000