Senior Navigation & Guidance Engineer

About the Company

K2 is building the largest and highest‑power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. With $450M from leading investors and an additional $500M in signed contracts, we’re mass‑producing high‑power satellite platforms for missions from LEO to deep space.

Our goal is to be the first vehicle to build a Kardashev Type II civilization. If you thrive in a fast‑paced environment and want to contribute to a groundbreaking Series C space startup, join us.

Senior Navigation & Guidance Engineer – You will be a core driver of the overall spacecraft GNC architecture. Key focus areas include:

• Execute detailed trade studies for guidance, attitude control, and orbit estimation systems.
• Develop control infrastructure, from filter design in the time domain to analysis in the frequency domain.
• Support autonomous orbit raise to MEO and associated navigation.
• Own and execute the Verification & Validation plan for the GNC stack, driving the system to flight readiness.
• Support launch and on‑orbit operations of the first full demonstration of the K2 spacecraft bus – the Mega.
• Update the GNC stack and 6‑DOF simulation based on on‑orbit lessons learned.

• Work with engineering leads to develop and validate a novel high‑level vehicle architecture.
• Develop algorithms for precise pointing and slewing of very large, flexible structures in Earth orbit and beyond.
• Create simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies, including mission design, controls analysis, and 6‑DOF simulation development.
• Recruit, hire, and mentor other engineers, contributing to the growth of the GNC organization.

• Experience with GNC actuator or sensor sizing, selection, and system design.
• Experience implementing attitude control and/or estimation algorithms on spacecraft.
• Experience with verification and validation of GNC flight software in an integrated environment, using 6‑DOF simulation and HITL testing.
• Proficiency in Python, Julia, C/C++, or Matlab for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation.

• Early‑stage spacecraft conceptual design ("clean sheet").
• Control algorithm development.
• Reaction wheel, control moment gyro, or thruster sizing and algorithm implementation.
• Navigation, specifically Extended Kalman Filters.
• Trajectory analysis, modeling, and mission design.
• Rust software development.

• Base salary range: $160,000 – $235,000 + equity.
• Benefits include paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and additional perks.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply.

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or mental/physical disability.