GNC Engineer

About the role

The role predicts in-orbit vehicle performance through full-stack GNC development.

Software engineers turn product ideas into working code. Engineers work in small teams, review each other's work, and ship in small batches. Most teams follow agile practices such as sprints and daily standups. Engineers also write tests, fix bugs, and improve performance. The field values clear communication as much as technical skill. Engineers spend part of every week on planning, code review, and debugging, not just writing new code. The ability to explain a technical decision in plain words separates strong engineers from the rest.

Key facts

What you'll do

A 6-DOF simulation is developed and owned to understand vehicle attitude, station-keeping, and orbital performance, and it is used to predict in-orbit behavior.

Controllers for flight-ready avionics are designed and implemented through direct software writing to enable space operations.

Simulation results constrain and inform ADCS design choices and validate vehicle service performance against mission objectives.

High-level vehicle architecture decisions are contributed to by translating GNC constraints and capabilities into system-level choices.

Prototyping is supported and controllers are implemented on prototype hardware to close the loop between simulation and flight-like conditions.

Reflected sunlight is precisely placed on ground targets from space by solving novel problems that surround this operation.

Requirements

The posting states a bachelor's degree requirement. Bring 4 6 years of professional GNC engineering experience, ideally gained on spacecraft or other dynamically controlled vehicles.

Demonstrate prior technical ownership of functioning vehicle controllers and simulation, with evidence such as designing and simulating the GNC for a referenced vehicle.

Build simulation environments from scratch while following opinionated best practices for modeling and testing.

Implement attitude control and estimation algorithms on spacecraft flight hardware or high-fidelity prototypes.

Verify and validate GNC flight software using 6-DOF simulation and HITL testing in integrated environments.

Practical notes

Work is conducted in the Hawthorne, CA location with full_time engagement.

Typical interview steps

Hiring for engineering roles usually starts with a recruiter screen, followed by one or two technical rounds. Candidates often solve a coding problem, discuss past projects, and answer system design questions. Some loops include a take-home task. Final rounds typically cover team fit and give candidates a chance to ask questions. Interviewers look for how you break down an unfamiliar problem, not just whether you reach the answer. Practicing a few problems aloud and reviewing your own past projects are the best preparation.

Good to know

The role involves modeling vehicle dynamics, orbital propagation, and controller design for space systems.

Common tools include simulation frameworks, orbit propagators, and attitude control libraries.

Engineers in this role solve precise pointing problems to enable reflected sunlight operations.

General GNC development practices guide daily work on avionics and software integration.

Questions to ask

Worth asking in any interview: how the team measures success, who the role works with daily, what the onboarding looks like, and what the company is trying to achieve this year. Asking what past hires did well is a strong final question. Keep the list short and pick the questions that matter most to you.

Career growth

Engineering careers usually progress from individual contributor to senior, staff, and principal levels. Some engineers move into management and lead teams of five to twenty people. Others stay on the technical track. Growth follows demonstrated impact, not tenure alone. A typical engineering ladder has clear levels with defined expectations for scope, quality, and mentorship. Moving up usually requires owning outcomes end to end rather than completing assigned tickets.