Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. U.S. persons authorized to work in the United States and access export-controlled technology are required.

Salary: Engineer 1 — $131,494–$168,024 per year; Engineer 2 — $144,020–$184,026 per year. Long-term incentives may include stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

hirify.global develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses.

What you will do

• Own the full life cycle of spacecraft GNC development from analysis and design through hardware-in-the-loop testing, vehicle integration, flight testing, and mission operations.
• Specify and size ADCS hardware, including reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS systems, and star trackers.
• Design autonomous attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning, and atmospheric re-entry algorithms.
• Develop six-degree-of-freedom vehicle simulations in C++, Python, and MATLAB/Simulink.
• Run Monte Carlo, trajectory optimization, and dispersion analyses for vehicle and reentry mission performance.
• Integrate and test GNC sensors, actuators, software, and automated maneuver-planning tooling while monitoring on-orbit performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering, physics, or a related field; alternatively, a PhD with relevant experience.
• 1–3 years of proven experience, or 1+ year of relevant experience with a PhD.
• Experience designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems.
• Strong software and model development skills, particularly in C++ and Python, with knowledge of orbital mechanics, simulation, and software development.
• Experience fitting first-principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations, plus systems engineering and configuration management experience.
• Must be a U.S. person authorized to work in the United States and access export-controlled technology.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in engineering or physics.
• Spacecraft attitude determination and control system design experience.
• Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools.
• Knowledge of multibody dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics.
• Experience supporting safety-critical flight tests or spacecraft.

Culture & Benefits

• Regular full-time employment with flexible PTO and 12 paid holidays.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with FSA and employer-matched HSA options.
• Parental leave, family-building benefits, and sponsored medical memberships.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% immediately vested employer match and relocation support for new hires if needed.
• On-site meals, team events, complimentary EV charging, and wellness reimbursement.