Senior/Principal Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer

Northrop Grumman Corporation; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in aerospace is seeking experienced Flight Dynamics Systems Engineers for innovative satellite system projects. Join a dynamic team tasked with ensuring the success of next-generation space capabilities for defense applications. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in STEM, experience with orbital mechanics, and a commitment to developing cutting-edge technologies.

Benefits

Relocation assistance

Health insurance

Paid time off

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Qualifications

• 5+ years for Principal Engineer; 8+ years for Senior Principal.
• Active Secret clearance required.
• Experience with COTS astrodynamics software.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop satellite orbit prediction and management systems.
• Ensure compliance with system requirements.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define technical solutions.

Skills

Orbit mechanics

High-fidelity orbit modeling

Space mission analysis

MATLAB

Python

Education

Bachelor's in STEM

Master's in STEM

PhD in STEM

Tools

STK

ODTK

FreeFlyer

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time Description At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

The Payload and Ground Systems organization within the Northrop Grumman Space Systems pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team is chartered with providing the skills, innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. Come be a part of our mission!

We have an opening for either a Principal Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer or Senior Principal Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer to join our talented team. We are seeking a team member who wants to solve interesting, complex problems to help protect our nation. We are a trusted mission payload and ground system provider with extensive experience providing end-to-end mission solutions from concept through operations and support. This position is located in Redondo Beach, CA.

What you’ll get to do?

As a Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer on this team, you will support a very fast-moving teamto help design, model, and develop the ground system for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) low earth orbit constellation for SDA’s Tranche 2 constellation. The constellation is a mesh network of optically-interconnected SVs that will provide a resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport communications system that will be launched starting in only 2.5 years.In this role, you will be interacting with the customer, other stakeholders, and leadership to define and maintain the technical baseline. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to drive the program through maturity and milestones to achieve the mission and overall vision. SDA’s vision is to deliver a minimum viable product on time, every two years to the warfighter by employing spiral development methods.

Tranche Two Transport Layer Alpha/Beta is part of an ambitious space architecture to bring next-generation communications capabilities to the warfighter around the globe. This program builds upon existing Transport Layer capabilities to provide greater coverage and new capabilities to the established SV network for the DoD.You will join an integrated, agile team to expand the Tranche One Ground System portfolio on an aggressive schedule. If you want to rapidly grow a broad spectrum of skills and experiences in space ground systems, come join us.

Core Responsibilities

• Support designing/developing automated management of on-orbit satellites, including constellation orbit prediction management, maneuver management (stationkeeping, collision avoidance), and mission management (contact and mission planning).
• Ensure system technical compliance with the program Statement of Work (SOW) and system requirements.
• Support requirement decomposition, functional analysis, interface definition, and architecture for the ground system.
• Participate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, and subject matter experts in various working group meetings to understand requirements/CONOPS and translate them into technical solutions.
• Serve as technical point of contact, influencing decisions by clearly communicating technical concepts, challenges, and trade-offs.

This requisition may be filled at a higher grade based on qualifications listed below.

Basic Qualifications:

• Principal Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer: 5 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's in STEM; 3 years of relevant experience with a Master's in STEM; 0 years of relevant experience with a PhD
• Senior Principal Flight Dynamics Systems Engineer: 8 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's in STEM; 6 years of relevant experience with a Master's in STEM; 3 years of relevant experience with a PhD
• Active Secret clearance required at the time of application
• 2+ years of experience with STK, ODTK, FreeFlyer, or other COTS astrodynamics software packages
• Background in orbit mechanics with experience in high-fidelity (non-Keplerian) orbit modelling
• Experience with designing and building flight dynamics tools for satellite operations, including orbit estimation/propagation and propulsive orbit maneuver planning
• Working knowledge of space mission analysis and Concept of Operations (CONOPS) design
• Proficiency in MATLAB

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with FreeFlyer
• On-orbit, real-time satellite operation experience
• Expertise in building low thrust maneuver planning tools
• Skilled in designing/developing automated management of on-orbit satellites, including constellation orbit estimation/prediction management, maneuver management (stationkeeping, collision avoidance), and mission management (contact and mission planning)
• Strong understanding of space vehicle attitude/pointing determination and control systems, with experience in developing algorithms for orientation control of a spacecraft to meet mission objectives
• Experience with space-to-space satellite optical link planning
• Knowledgeable on satellite command and control ground systems
• Proficiency in python

Salary Range: $0.00 - $0.00Salary Range 2: $0.00 - $0.00 The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business. The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates. Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.