Senior GNC Simulation Engineer - Build the Flight Simulation Environment for Next-Generation SpacecraftDenver, Colorado | On-site
Opportunity SummaryJoin a venture-backed aerospace company developing advanced spacecraft platforms designed to support the next generation of autonomous in-space operations. As the company progresses from prototype development toward flight-qualified systems, this role will lead the development of the simulation and verification environment used to validate guidance, navigation, and control performance before hardware reaches orbit. As a Senior GNC Simulation Engineer, you will own the simulation infrastructure supporting flight software development, vehicle dynamics, and mission verification. You'll build high-fidelity simulation environments that accurately model spacecraft physics, sensors, actuators, and onboard software while enabling rapid testing through hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, and Monte Carlo analysis. Working closely with GNC, embedded software, avionics, and systems engineering teams, you'll help ensure simulation results translate directly to flight performance.
Job Duties- Design, develop, and maintain high-fidelity simulation environments supporting spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control development.
- Build 6DOF physics models representing spacecraft dynamics, orbital motion, environmental effects, and vehicle interactions.
- Develop simulation infrastructure that integrates directly with production flight software.
- Design and maintain hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop verification environments.
- Develop sensor, actuator, communication, and subsystem models that accurately represent flight hardware behavior.
- Build Monte Carlo analysis frameworks for performance evaluation across thousands of mission scenarios.
- Develop simulation configuration, automation, logging, visualization, and telemetry tools.
- Validate simulation fidelity through comparison with hardware testing and flight data.
- Support regression testing and continuous verification of guidance, navigation, and control algorithms.
- Reproduce flight anomalies and investigate discrepancies between simulation and hardware performance.
- Collaborate closely with GNC, embedded software, avionics, perception, and systems engineering teams to improve simulation accuracy and software reliability.
- Participate in architecture discussions, design reviews, and verification planning throughout product development.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical discipline.
- 5+ years developing simulation software for aerospace, robotics, autonomous systems, or other dynamic platforms.
- Strong software development experience using modern C++ and Python.
- Experience developing high-fidelity dynamic simulation environments.
- Strong understanding of rigid-body dynamics, numerical integration, orbital mechanics, and control systems.
- Experience integrating software into simulation or hardware verification environments.
- Familiarity with collaborative software development practices and version control systems.
Preferred Experience- High-fidelity 6DOF spacecraft or aircraft simulation.
- Hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing.
- Monte Carlo simulation and statistical performance analysis.
- Real-time or embedded software development.
- Flight software integration and verification.
- Sensor and actuator modeling.
- Numerical integration methods and nonlinear dynamic systems.
- Distributed software architectures or multi-rate simulation frameworks.
- Data visualization, telemetry analysis, or simulation dashboards.
- Experience supporting spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, robotics, UAVs, or other mission-critical autonomous systems.
Compensation Details$120,000 - $165,000
