Senior GNC Engineer

Senior GNC Engineer

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus and technical excellence are decisive advantages - and we are building a team that can deliver real capability, not just concepts.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where your work will directly shape critical systems, influence major technical decisions, and have immediate, real-world impact.

We are seeking a Senior GNC Engineer to develop guidance, navigation, and control solutions for Castelion's long-range hypersonic strike vehicles. This role is critical to enabling stable, precise, and adaptive flight performance across all mission phases. You will work hands-on with multidisciplinary engineering teams to design, analyze, implement, and validate control and autopilot algorithms in a fast-paced, hardware-driven environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop flight control and autopilot algorithms for high-speed flight vehicles across atmospheric and exo-atmospheric regimes
• Develop and implement advanced control strategies, including adaptive and robust control methods, to ensure performance under uncertain and dynamic conditions
• Conduct modeling, simulation, and analysis (3
  
  DOF/6
  
  DOF) to evaluate control system performance, stability, and robustness
• Work closely with avionics, flight sciences, mechanisms, and flight software teams to integrate control algorithms into real-time embedded systems
• Support hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, flight testing, and post-flight analysis, translating results into system-level improvements
• Analyze vehicle dynamics, actuator behavior, and sensor characteristics to inform control system design and tuning
• Develop tools and frameworks for control system design, verification, and validation
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to best practices in GNC and control system development
• Partner closely with program leadership to make technical trades aligned with mission success

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of experience in control system design, analysis, and validation for aerospace or high-performance dynamic systems
• Strong background in classical and modern control theory, including adaptive, nonlinear, and robust control methods
• Experience developing autopilot algorithms for missiles, rockets, hypersonic vehicles, or similar systems
• Proficiency in modeling and simulation tools such as MATLAB/Simulink or equivalent
• Experience with 3
  
  DOF and 6
  
  DOF simulation environments and real-time control implementation
• Familiarity with flight software integration and real-time embedded systems
• Strong problem-solving mindset, thriving in a fast-paced, hardware-rich, high flight cadence environment

Benefits And Perks

All full-time employees are granted meaningful long-term equity, sharing in the company's significant growth trajectory. We offer four (4) weeks of paid time off, ten (10) company-paid holidays, and comprehensive health benefits - including 100% employee-covered medical and strong dependent coverage, along with dental and vision plans. We also provide paid parental leave to support growing families, a $100 monthly fitness stipend to promote health and performance, and onsite EV charging for convenience.

In addition, employees enjoy perks like catered meals, company-covered food during high-demand periods, and a fully stocked kitchen to stay fueled throughout the day.

While this position does not currently require a U.S government-issued security clearance, it may in the near future. Therefore, the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government–issued security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.