Advanced Programs - Hypersonic Testbed GN&C Engineer - Level 3/4

Northrop Grumman; Roy (UT); On-site; Full time

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems seeks a Principal GN&C Engineer or Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer to work on the Hypersonic Testbed vehicle autopilot system in Huntsville, AL or Roy, UT.

What You Will Get To Do

Hypersonic Testbed Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C) Engineer.

Responsibilities

• Support the technical development of the Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in exoatmospheric and endoatmospheric flight.
• Use expertise in classical and modern control theory for autopilot development (PID controller design, gain scheduling, optimal and robust control techniques).
• Mature existing control algorithms and analysis tools, and tune the autopilot(s) for emerging missions supporting a variety of SDS Futures Programs.
• Conduct covariance analysis and circular error probable accuracy assessment.
• Participate in engineering review boards, technical interchange meetings, and critical milestone reviews.
• Determine and report incremental performance improvements.
• Respond to analysis package requests.
• Perform trajectory assessment and flight analyses.
• Collaborate with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment to meet critical milestones.
• Develop and analyze GNC algorithms (Guidance, Navigation, Autopilot).
• Develop, verify, and validate complex 6‑degrees‑of‑freedom vehicle models.
• Model missile components such as inertial measurement units (IMU), electronic control actuators, and thrust vector control (TVC) systems.
• Use C++ and MATLAB and object‑oriented design.
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers to plan, design, and develop safety and mission‑critical analysis using M&S tools.
• Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high‑level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.
• Serve on one or more Advanced Programs (SDS Futures' Group) initiatives in the hypersonic arena.

Basic Qualifications – Principal GN&C Engineer

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5 years of experience, or 3 years of experience with a master’s degree, or 0 years of experience with PhD.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• 1 year of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms.
• 2 years of experience with Agile Development with DoDAF standards and methods.
• 2 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher‑level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.).
• 3 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft.

Basic Qualifications – Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 8 years of experience, or 6 years of experience with a master’s degree, or 4 years of experience with PhD.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain TOP SECRET clearance and Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• 2 years of experience with Agile Development with DoDAF standards and methods.
• 3 years of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms.
• 4 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher‑level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.).
• 4 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s advanced degree in Aerospace Engineering or applicable technical discipline.
• Experience with guidance law design for trajectory shaping and precision impact requirements.
• Extensive experience with MATLAB/Simulink.
• Experience with Object‑Oriented Programming.
• Experience in covariance and CEP analysis.
• Experience with linear stability analysis to determine control system stability margins.
• Experience designing, analyzing, and tuning autopilot algorithms for missile, hypersonic, or unmanned aircraft systems.
• Strong grasp of both classical and modern control theory, including PID, gain scheduling, state‑space control, optimal control, or robust control techniques.
• Experience designing gain‑scheduled or adaptive flight control systems across a wide flight envelope.
• Familiarity with nonlinear control techniques such as dynamic inversion, LQR/LQG, MPC, or adaptive control.
• Experience developing actuator dynamic models, including bandwidth, rate limiting, position limits, hysteresis, backlash, deadband, and saturation effects.
• Experience evaluating actuator performance across varying environmental and operational conditions.
• Knowledge of state estimation techniques, such as Kalman filtering or complementary filtering.
• Experience transitioning theoretical algorithms into flight‑ready software using SIL and HIL applications.
• Experience with a software version control system, such as Git, GitLab, and/or Bitbucket.
• Experience with the Atlassian tool set, Agile Development, Model‑Based Engineering, and Software Development best practices.
• Experience with certification, airworthiness, testing, or qualification of flight and safety critical systems.
• Active DoD Top Secret clearance.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Educational Assistance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
• Paid Time Off
• Health & Wellness ResourcesEmployee Discounts

Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 – $147,600.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 – $184,200.00

This position's standard work schedule is 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine‑hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.

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.