Senior Guidance And Controls Engineer – Navigation
| Company | Varda Space |
|---|---|
| Location | El Segundo, CA, USA |
| Salary | $160000 – $200000 |
| Type | Full-Time |
| Degrees | Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD |
| Experience Level | Senior |
Requirements
- B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field
- 5+ proven years of experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience
- Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
- Strong software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python
- Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
- Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations
- Proven system engineering and configuration management skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Responsibilities
- ADCS hardware performance specification including sizing of reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers
- Design and implementation of autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning and atmospheric re-entry algorithms
- Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule
- Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python and MATLAB/Simulink
- Running Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities
- Integration and testing of GNC sensors, actuators, and software in hardware-in-the-loop environment
- Design and implementation of ground tooling necessary to facilitate fully automated maneuver responsibility and maneuver scheduling decisions
- Monitoring on-orbit system performance; troubleshooting where necessary
- Coordination with other spacecraft operators, 3rd party agencies, and the US government
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in engineering or physics
- Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design
- Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools
- Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
- Experience developing and verifying physical models for the purpose of control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
- Experience supporting safety critical flight tests or spacecraft
- Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean and state of the art software development techniques