Senior Manager, GNC

About the role

You will own the end to end guidance navigation and control strategy for the V BAT aircraft portfolio guiding the tactical technical roadmap from concept to flight. You will define and maintain the architectural vision for all autonomy and control algorithms ensuring they align with mission critical performance and safety objectives. You will act as the primary technical authority steering cross functional collaborations that integrate tightly with Hivemind State Estimation Simulation and Embedded teams. You will lead the full lifecycle development of guidance navigation and control software driving algorithm design implementation verification and validation activities. You will negotiate workshare and resolve integration challenges ensuring cohesive software components that meet stringent defense standards. You will provide mentorship and leadership to engineers fostering a culture of rigorous analysis innovation and operational excellence. You will ensure all flight software qualification and flight test activities are executed with disciplined traceability and risk management. You will represent the Guidance and Control organization in interactions with customers program offices and internal stakeholders to safeguard program success.

Key facts

What you'll do

Define strategic product roadmaps for guidance navigation and control algorithms aligning technology development with evolving defense mission requirements.

Lead the architecture and design of control software components ensuring modular scalability and robustness across diverse operational environments.

Own the development implementation and qualification of guidance navigation and control algorithms supporting V BAT flight regimes and payload configurations.

Negotiate and manage workshare responsibilities with the Hivemind team to synchronize autonomy decisions with vehicle control commands.

Collaborate with the State Estimation team to integrate sensor data fusion navigation filters and state observers into a reliable navigation solution.

Partner with the Simulation Development team to create high fidelity virtual testbeds that validate guidance navigation and control behaviors pre flight.

Coordinate with the Aerodynamics team to refine vehicle models aerodynamic coefficients and control surface effectiveness for accurate simulation and testing.

Work closely with the Embedded Software team to ensure control algorithms meet real time computational constraints and hardware limitations.

Support flight software qualification activities developing test cases verification procedures and traceability artifacts for regulatory and contractual compliance.

Provide flight test support defining test scenarios data collection plans and analysis methodologies to accelerate iterative development and risk reduction.

Champion the adoption of modern software engineering practices including configuration management version control code reviews and automated testing.

Drive the resolution of cross domain integration issues ensuring seamless data exchange and timing between guidance navigation control and autonomy layers.

Establish metrics and performance benchmarks for navigation accuracy control stability and system reliability to guide future improvements.

Act as a technical liaison with external partners and customers clarifying requirements aligning expectations and documenting technical decisions.

Lead technical reviews and design discussions ensuring that guidance navigation and control solutions meet stringent safety reliability and performance standards.

Requirements

Demonstrate a proven track record in managing complex guidance navigation and control software programs within defense or aerospace environments.

Possess deep expertise in control theory navigation algorithms sensor fusion and estimation techniques relevant to aerial vehicles.

Show extensive experience with full lifecycle software development including requirements definition architectural design implementation testing and certification.

Exhibit strong leadership skills managing cross functional engineering teams and aligning technical work with program objectives.

Have a history of negotiating and integrating solutions across multiple engineering teams ensuring coherent system level behavior.

Demonstrate rigorous analytical thinking and problem solving abilities when addressing high risk performance and safety constraints.

Hold a background in real time software development for flight systems including familiarity with DO 178C or equivalent aviation standards.

Be capable of traveling to various test sites and customer locations as required to support development verification and acceptance activities.

Nice to have

Experience with V BAT or similar vertical takeoff and fixed wing platforms.

Knowledge of Hivemind autonomy framework and its integration with vehicle control systems.

Familiarity with simulation tools and digital twin environments used for flight software verification.

Understanding of defense contracting compliance and documentation requirements for government programs.

Practical notes

This is a full time position based in Dallas Texas.

Travel to test sites and customer locations may be required.

There are no visa sponsorship details provided for this role.

Candidates must meet the eligibility criteria without exception.