Flight Systems Futures - GN&C Engineer 3/4

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems busca un Ingeniero GN&C Principal o Senior Principal para apoyar el desarrollo de simuladores de vuelo, algoritmos de guiado, navegación y control, y verificación y validación rigurosa de modelos y requisitos. El ingeniero desarrollará y madurará algoritmos GN&C, autopilotos y simulaciones de vuelo 6-DOF de alta fidelidad para sistemas aeroespaciales complejos, incluyendo diseño de navegación inercial strap-down, integración GPS y soluciones de navegación basadas en filtros de Kalman. También mejorará herramientas de análisis GN&C, realizará evaluaciones de covarianza y precisión CEP, y contribuirá a capacidades de misión emergentes en programas avanzados. El rol colabora con equipos multidisciplinarios en un entorno Agile y participa en revisiones de ingeniería y reuniones técnicas.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment to meet critical milestones
• Develop, verify, and validate GN&C algorithms and 6-DOF flight simulations in a multi-disciplinary team environment
• Design and implement strap-down inertial navigation systems integrated with GPS and Kalman filters
• Perform trajectory assessment, flight analyses, covariance analysis, and CEP/accuracy evaluations
• Apply trajectory optimization and nonlinear control techniques to improve missile trajectory performance.
• Enhance and maintain GN&C and navigation analysis tools for new mission requirements
• Participate in engineering review boards, technical interchange meetings, and critical milestone reviews
• Model key subsystems such as IMUs, control actuators, and propulsion / thrust-vector control
• Manage version control, continuous integration, and automated testing of GN&C software toolchains (Git, CI/CD).
• Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high-level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors
• Use C++ and MATLAB with object-oriented design principles to implement and analyze GN&C software
• Collaborate closely with GN&C flight software teams to transition algorithms into flight-worthy implementations

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5 years of experience, 3 years of experience with master’s degree, 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
• Must have the ability to obtain Top Secret Clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• 1 year of experience in state estimation techniques: Kalman filters (KF, EKF, UKF), particle filters, and smoothing algorithms. ( t03: 1 yr | t04: 2 yr)
• 1 year of experience with high fidelity vehicle modeling (6 DOF dynamics, aerodynamic heating, propulsion) and simulation environments (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C/C++) ( t03: 1 yr | t04: 3 yr)
• 1 year of experience with linear stability analysis to determine control system stability margins ( t03: 1 yr | t04: 3 yr)
• 2 years of experience with MATLAB/Simulink for modeling, simulation, and code generation ( t03: 2 yr | t04: 4 yr)
• 1 year of experience with Monte Carlo, robustness, and performance analysis tools ( t03: 1 yr | t04: 3 yr)
• Participation in at least one flight test program (e.g., sounding rocket, missile, UAV)
• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 8 years of experience, 6 years of experience with master’s degree, 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
• Must have current Special Access Program (SAP) approval at time of hire.
• 2 years of experience in state estimation techniques: Kalman filters (KF, EKF, UKF), particle filters, and smoothing algorithms. ( t03: 1 yr | t04: 2 yr)
• 3 years of experience with high fidelity vehicle modeling (6 DOF dynamics, aerodynamic heating, propulsion) and simulation environments (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C/C++)
• 3 years of experience with linear stability analysis to determine control system stability margins
• 4 years of experience with MATLAB/Simulink for modeling, simulation, and code generation
• 3 years of experience with Monte Carlo, robustness, and performance analysis tools
• Participation in at least one flight test program (e.g., sounding rocket, missile, UAV)

Nice to have

• Ability to implement and optimize algorithms for real time execution on embedded processors (FPGA, DSP, multicore CPUs).
• Experience in deploying algorithms to software, hardware, and testing.
• Knowledge of Navigation and sensor fusion (INS, GPS, star tracker, lidar)
• Knowledge of Real-time embedded systems and hard real-time constraints
• Knowledge of test article instrumentation, telemetry, and fault diagnostics
• Familiarity with hypersonic phenomena: shock wave interactions, real gas effects, ablative heating, plasma communication blackout
• Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams (aero, structures, thermal, software)
• Clear communication of technical concepts to non-specialists
• Proven track record of troubleshooting complex real time systems
• Python for data analysis & rapid prototyping
• Use of version control (Git) and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with real-time operating systems
• Experience with hardware in the loop (HIL) and software in the loop (SIL) testbeds
• Experience evaluating impacts of control effectors on guidance and control (latency, bandwidth, etc.)
• Experience evaluating impacts of navigation sensors on guidance and control (latency, frequency, etc.)
• Experience integrating guidance law design with navigation and control to achieve stringent terminal accuracy and precision impact requirements in contested environments.
• Knowledge of Advanced control theory (state space, optimal, robust, nonlinear, adaptive)
• Knowledge of Flight dynamics of high Mach vehicles (aerodynamics, thermodynamics, propulsion integration)

Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401k
• Educational Assistance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
• Paid Time Off
• Health & Wellness Resources
• Employee Discounts