Senior Optical Navigation Engineer

Senior Optical Navigation Engineer

Houston, TX;
Littleton, CO;
Glen Burnie, MD;
Phoenix, AZ;
Remote

Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting‑edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With multiple NASA lunar missions in development and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting NASA, our customers, and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon.

Our world‑class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on‑orbit operations, and safety.

We are seeking an experienced Optical Navigation Engineer at Level IV to provide technical leadership across our Flight Dynamics – Interplanetary team, guiding complex systems, software, and multiple mission projects.

• Oversee planning and design of multiple ground-based and on-board optical navigation and camera systems. Drive development, feasibility studies, modeling, and analysis; participate in prototype, functional, and flight testing to validate performance, reliability, safety, and flight readiness.
• Support commercial lunar programs including the NOVA lunar landers and interplanetary projects such as NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX and Lucy missions.
• Lead and perform operational analyses, camera/system calibration, observation planning, and image processing; develop planetary shape models and digital terrain maps of asteroids and the Moon.
• Coordinate analyses with industry and mission partners. Work with spacecraft subsystem engineers, scientists, and other stakeholders to define objectives, requirements, and deliverables and resolve complex system interfaces.
• Shape software strategy, architecture, and development practices across teams and programs, including flight software and analysis tools. Guide unit testing, peer review, configuration control, and long‑term software capability development.
• Serve as a trusted technical resource across missions, resolving complex system‑level and cross‑disciplinary problems. Lead research and continuous improvement using current technologies and sound long‑term engineering judgment.
• Oversee quality control, verification, and testing against specifications and applicable aerospace and safety standards. Mitigate technical risks and guide accurate execution during high‑pressure mission activities.
• Oversee technical reports, system and software documentation, and presentations for the navigation team and stakeholders. Maintain accurate records of progress and technical decisions; communicate results, risks, and issues to executives.
• Lead large technical teams and multiple projects from conception through completion. Oversee plans, schedules, and budgets, optimize cost and effort, and remain accountable for project objectives and delivery.
• Perform other duties as required.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with extensive relevant engineering experience delivering complex optical navigation systems and software across multiple projects.
• Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Optics, Physics, or related discipline.
• Extensive knowledge of multiple optical navigation disciplines, such as celestial navigation, terrain‑relative navigation, observational astronomy, astrodynamics, or computer vision (classical and/or AI/ML), supported by strong software engineering skills.
• Proficiency in numerical optimization, statistical and non‑linear estimation, spacecraft systems, and attitude dynamics, with an understanding of interactions with orbit…