Head of GNC

Head of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C)

Carson, CA — on-site only (no remote/hybrid)

$200,000–$260,000 + equity + benefits

Aerospace / National Security Space

Early‑stage aerospace company building resilient spacecraft designed to safeguard critical orbital assets and ensure freedom of action in space, integrating advanced autonomy, sensing, and control into flight‑critical systems.

Define and lead development of flight‑critical algorithms enabling autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations (RPO), and precision maneuvering in contested environments. Technical leadership role, not pure management — set technical direction for GN&C company‑wide, own system‑level performance, and build a team capable of delivering mission‑critical autonomy from concept through flight.

• Own end‑to‑end GN&C architecture across all spacecraft programs
• Define and drive technical strategy and roadmap for autonomy‑enabled control systems in dynamic, contested environments
• Lead design, implementation, and validation of GN&C algorithms for RPO, formation flying, and precision maneuvering
• Oversee development of ADCS, orbit determination, and state estimation systems with flight‑level reliability
• Establish engineering standards, modeling practices, and verification methodologies across the GN&C domain
• Drive integration of GN&C with flight software, autonomy, avionics, and mission systems
• Own simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, and performance validation under uncertainty and off‑nominal/failure conditions
• Lead HIL and flight test campaigns
• Recruit, mentor, and develop a high‑caliber GN&C team
• Act as technical authority for GN&C in executive decisions, customer engagements, and program reviews

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related field
• 10+ years of experience in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or autonomous system GN&C
• Demonstrated ownership of flight‑critical GN&C systems from concept through on‑orbit operations
• Deep expertise in control systems, nonlinear dynamics, and state estimation (e.g., Kalman filtering)
• Strong experience with relative motion, orbital mechanics, and RPO or formation flying missions
• Proven ability to lead technical teams and deliver complex systems under schedule and performance constraints
• Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink, Python, and C/C++
• Experience integrating algorithms into embedded flight software and HIL environments
• Strong systems engineering mindset with the ability to operate across disciplines

• U.S. Citizenship required; ability to obtain/hold active TS/SCI clearance