Hypersonic GN&C Autopilot Engineer — Secret Clearance

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE:
Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START:
Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE:
Secret

TRAVEL:
Yes, 10% of the Time

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems seeks a Principal GN&C Engineer or Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer to work on the Hypersonic Testbed vehicle autopilot system in Huntsville, AL or Roy, UT.

Hypersonic Testbed Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C) Engineer.

• Support the technical development of the Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in exoatmospheric and endoatmospheric flight.
• Use expertise in classical and modern control theory for autopilot development (PID controller design, gain scheduling, optimal and robust control techniques).
• Mature existing control algorithms and analysis tools, and tune the autopilot(s) for emerging missions supporting a variety of SDS Futures Programs.
• Conduct covariance analysis and circular error probable accuracy assessment.
• Participate in engineering review boards, technical interchange meetings, and critical milestone reviews.
• Determine and report incremental performance improvements.
• Respond to analysis package requests.
• Perform trajectory assessment and flight analyses.
• Collaborate with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment to meet critical milestones.
• Develop and analyze GNC algorithms (Guidance, Navigation, Autopilot).
• Develop, verify, and validate complex 6‑degrees‑of‑freedom vehicle models.
• Model missile components such as inertial measurement units (IMU), electronic control actuators, and thrust vector control (TVC) systems.
• Use C++ and MATLAB and object‑oriented design.
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers to plan, design, and develop safety and mission‑critical analysis using M&S tools.
• Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high‑level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.
• Serve on one or more Advanced Programs (SDS Futures' Group) initiatives in the hypersonic arena.

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5 years of experience, or 3 years of experience with a master’s degree, or 0 years of experience with PhD.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• 1 year of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms.
• 2 years of experience with Agile Development with DoDAF standards and methods.
• 2 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher‑level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.).
• 3 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft.

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 8 years of experience, or 6 years of experience with a master’s degree, or 4 years of experience with PhD.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain TOP SECRET clearance and Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• 2 years of experience with Agile Development with DoDAF standards and methods.
• 3 years of autopilot development and control theory specifically focused on tuning and implementing flight control algorithms.
• 4 years of demonstrated experience coding in a higher‑level programming language (C, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, etc.).
• 4 years of demonstrated experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft.

• PhD or Master’s advanced degree in Aerospace Engineering or applicable technical discipline.
• Experience with guidance law design for trajectory…