Sr. Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer - Spacecraft at Sierra Nevada Corporation in Louisville, CO

Do you have an eye for detail and a passion for developing innovation solutions? Join our team! As a Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer, you will be using your skills and expertise to design and test algorithms, flight software, related hardware, design tools, simulations, and more for various aerospace vehicles. These cover a very wide range from advanced mission payloads and electronic systems through highly integrated aircraft to orbital and space exploration systems. You'll explore complex GN&C algorithms and systems to assess performance of vehicle flight qualities and capabilities. Your technical duties involve the design, development, evaluation, and test of new products and processes throughout the product lifecycle.At SNC’s Space Systems Group (SSG) we are not only the creator of the Dream Chaser® spacecraft, but also the designer and manufacturer of rocket engines and components, systems that sustain life in deep space, as well as systems and satellites that improve life here on Earth. The work of our Space Systems team not only supports the U.S. government (including NASA), but also commercial customers and international organizations.

As a GN&C Engineer at SNC, you will focus on the design and development of flight and simulation algorithms solutions for tests and spacecraft missions for both civilian and DoD applications. These designs stem from understanding, analyzing and evaluating satellite and constellation capabilities, mission concepts, and system requirements. Your work will ensure we meet customer requirements by making data-driven decisions in architecting, planning, building and testing the design in a testbed prototype and subsequent delivery of the end product. Along the way, you will build tools and contribute to analyses of various architectures that include space vehicles, satellites, sensors, communications, and ground infrastructure; evolving or creating new approaches based on analysis results. You will also contribute to evaluating the mission effectiveness of the candidate approaches, balancing mission objectives against factors such as development and lifecycle costs.

This candidate will have experience with all portions of the software life cycle (concept development, requirements definition, design, development, testing, and deployment). Additionally, the successful candidate will have experience doing GN&C-related analysis such as performance analysis, multi-sensor fusion and estimation/filtering, sensor processing and/or other advanced GN&C analyses. This individual has a strong working knowledge of Matlab and Simulink and experience with code development. Object-oriented design using the C and C++ languages is a plus, as is having experience in deploying and testing flight code on embedded processors.

Must-haves:

• Bachelors of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Applied Math, Physics, or related discipline and typically 10 or more years of relevant experience
• Experience developing models and simulations using software and software languages such as MATLAB, Simulink, Python, or C++
• Experience with standard COTS packages (such as Systems Tool Kit (STK))
• Knowledge of interface and design documentation such as Functional block diagrams
• Practical experience with GN&C development team(s)
• Practical experience developing, testing and certifying GN&C algorithms and flight software
• Confident with MATLAB/Simulink and/or C, C++. JAVA, Python
• Previous experience and skills in simulation, implementation, lab integration and/or test
• Ability to rapidly work with minimal supervision on projects involving both small and large engineering teams
• Desire for new challenges, to be on the ground floor of an exciting capability for our nation, and to be part of the initial cadre developing a new multi-domain system
• Willingness to work on a small team performing complex engineering design evaluations for a diverse mission where everyone has input matters
• Experience working on multi-disciplinary design and development teams
• Thorough understanding of systems engineering principles, requirements analysis (RA), CONOP development and Verification and Validation (V&V)
• The ability to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S. Security Clearance is required

Preferred:

• Masters of Science degree in Engineering, Physics or related discipline and typically 8 or more years of relevant aerospace experience
• Experience with Agile Scrum is desired
• Working knowledge of spacecraft GN&C hardware and algorithms
• Experience with high agility/low jitter systems up to and including CMG-based systems
• Experience with Rendezvous and Proximity Operations systems
• Experience leading GN&C integration efforts for a spacecraft program.
• Experience performing Design and Optimization of avionics system of systems
• Advanced experience with requirements management and system modeling tools, such as SysML, Cameo Enterprise Architect, Teamwork Cloud, DOORS, Unified Architecture Framework
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal). Demonstrated experience briefing technical subjects to both technical and non-technical people and delivering key messages and insights from analysis products
• Background in the Aerospace and Defense Industry