Senior Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Engineer, Air Dominance & Strike

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 253,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Top-tier benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer to drive design, development, testing, and implementation of flight system technologies for missiles, UAVs, and related capabilities. The role demands leadership in GNC architectures and MDAO-driven optimization across multidisciplinary teams.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years on complex air vehicles, strong control theory knowledge, MATLAB/Simulink proficiency, and eligibility for a U.S. Top Secret clearance.

Qualifications

• BS in a relevant engineering field with focus on dynamics and control.
• 7+ years of experience on complex air vehicles.
• Strong theoretical knowledge of classical and modern control theory, estimation, and filtering.
• Experience developing GNC solutions for flight systems.
• Proficiency with GNC simulation tools (MATLAB, Simulink).
• Familiarization with 6-DOF simulations.
• Eligible for U.S. Top Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and test GNC algorithms for flight systems.
• Design and assess GNC architectures for spacecraft, sensors, actuators, and algorithms.
• Apply MDAO methods to balance performance, cost, and risk.
• Participate in all development phases from concept to prototype to test.
• Collaborate with systems, flight software, and test engineers for integration.
• Contribute to design reviews, safety assessments, and system docs.
• Use simulations to verify GNC models and performance under various conditions.
• Provide system engineering expertise for cohesive GNC development.

Skills

Control theory

GNC systems

MATLAB/Simulink

6-DOF simulations

Top Secret clearance

Education

BS in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Aerospace Engineering or related field

PhD in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical engineering (plus)

Tools

MATLAB

Simulink

GPOPS-ii

DIDO

Dymos

CasADi

IPOPT

C/C++ code generation from Simulink

Job description

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

Anduril’s Flight Engineering department is part of the Air Dominance and Strike organization. We are seeking Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) Engineers to join our team. The Anduril Flight Engineering team is integral to development of flight system solutions in all domains for our warfighters. As a critical member of our team, the role of a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer is pivotal in driving the design, development, testing, and implementation of cutting-edge flight system technologies for our aerospace systems. Anduril fosters a dynamic learning culture, characterized by accelerated knowledge acquisition through modeling, simulation, analysis, and rigorous and frequent ground and flight test experimentation. At Anduril, you will be involved in flight testing the systems you develop.

We are currently looking for highly skilled GNC Engineers with expertise in autonomous safety-critical systems to join our team. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in developing, testing, and implementing GNC systems and architectures for our aerospace programs. This includes missiles, unmanned air vehicles, and related technology.

ANDURIL PRODUCTS

Andurilhas been selected as one of two vendors to move forward on the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program for the Air Force’s flagship autonomous aircraft program. During the next phase,Andurilwill design, manufacture, and testproduction-representative CCAs. We are honored to be part of the program as a non-traditional defense company and are seeking highly motivated candidates to join us in the rapid development of a new, revolutionary aircraft. For more information on the latest with Anduril, visit our Newsroom. Watch this short video showcasing ourproductsatAnduril.

Products these teams work on:
Fury
Barracuda
Roadrunner
Omen

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Develop, implement, and test algorithms for guidance, navigation, and control systems in line with project requirements.
• Design, implement, and assess the GNC architectures considering all elements, including spacecraft, sensors, actuators, and algorithms.
• Use MDAO techniques for the design and optimization of GNC systems, balancing performance, cost, and risk factors.
• Participate in all phases of system development, from concept to design, prototyping, testing, and operation.
• Collaborate closely with a multidisciplinary team including systems engineers, flight software engineers, and test engineers to ensure system-wide integration and performance.
• Contribute to design reviews, safety assessments, and system documentation.
• Use simulation and analysis tools to verify GNC models and system performance under different operating conditions.
• Provide system engineering expertise in the development of GNC systems, ensuring a cohesive and efficient approach to the design and implementation process.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to GNC systems during design, testing, and operational phases.
• Keep updated with the latest technologies and trends in GNC engineering and system architecture design.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• BS in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Aerospace Engineering or related field with focus on dynamics and control.
• 7 or more years of experience working on complex air vehicles.
• A strong theoretical knowledge of classical and modern control theory, estimation, and filtering techniques.
• Experience with developing GNC solutions for flight systems.
• Proficiency with GNC simulation tools like MATLAB, Simulink and related toolboxes.
• Familiarization with 6-DOF simulations.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field is a plus.
• Strong understanding of flight mechanics and related physics.
• Practical experience developing GNC designs for flight systems.
• Extensive experience in GNC system and architecture development and testing, preferably in the aerospace industry.
• Experience generating in C or C++ code from Simulink models.
• Proven experience in applying MDAO methods and tools in the design of complex systems.
• Experience with direct and indirect trajectory optimization methods and familiarity with trajectory optimization libraries (e.g., GPOPS-ii, DIDO, Dymos, CasADi, or IPOPT).
• Experience writing code in C/C++ or Rust.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Familiarity with agile and Lean product development methodologies such as Scrum.
• Experience using Jira, Git, GitHub, or GitLab.
• Understanding of and compliance with industry, safety, and quality standards appropriate for the application.
• Passion for defending the United States and its allies.
• Current Active U.S. Top Secret clearance preferred.

ANDURIL PRODUCTS

Andurilhas been selected as one of two vendors to move forward on the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program for the Air Force’s flagship autonomous aircraft program. During the next phase,Andurilwill design, manufacture, and testproduction-representative CCAs. We are honored to be part of the program as a non-traditional defense company and are seeking highly motivated candidates to join us in the rapid development of a new, revolutionary aircraft. For more information on the latest with Anduril, visit our Newsroom. Watch this short video showcasing ourproductsatAnduril.

US Salary Range

$166,000—$253,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril’s total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.