Senior GNC Engineer: Spaceflight Guidance & Control

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision insurance

Educational reimbursement

Parental leave

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. in Austin is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, autonomous flight software, and guidance algorithms for operational launch vehicles.

You will develop attitude control software, design and optimize trajectories, and support hardware-in-the-loop testing and system integration. This role combines advanced control theory with real-time embedded development and hands-on flight operations support while mentoring junior engineers in a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical, electrical, computer science, or related field.
• 5–10 years of experience in launch vehicle GNC or related areas with depth in attitude control, flight software, trajectory design, or guidance.
• Advanced knowledge of attitude dynamics and control theory; familiarity with Kalman filtering and state estimation.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, and tune launch vehicle attitude control software for reliable flight.
• Develop guidance algorithms for powered ascent and orbital insertion.
• Design and optimize launch vehicle trajectories within constraints.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop testing and system integration.
• Mentor junior engineers in control theory, flight software, and trajectory optimization.

Skills

Attitude control

Flight software

Trajectory design

Real-time C++

GNC systems

Python scripting

Kalman filtering

CI/CD practices

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace or related field

Master’s degree or PhD in aerospace or related field

Tools

POST

OTIS

TAOS

Real-time OS

Job description

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. in Austin is seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to design and implement advanced control systems, autonomous flight software, and guidance algorithms for operational launch vehicles.

You will develop attitude control software, design and optimize trajectories, and support hardware-in-the-loop testing and system integration. This role combines advanced control theory with real-time embedded development and hands-on flight operations support while mentoring junior engineers in a