Senior GNC Engineer (Aerospace)

TL;DR

Senior GNC Engineer (Aerospace): Designing and implementing flight control algorithms for electric VTOL aircraft with an accent on vehicle dynamics and control theory. Focus on building high-fidelity simulations, verifying system requirements, and analyzing flight data to improve vehicle performance.

Location: San Jose, California, United States. Unable to provide work visa sponsorship.

Salary: $140,000 - $180,000

Company

An aerospace company building all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to advance sustainable air mobility.

What you will do

• Design and implement flight control algorithms for electric VTOL aircraft.
• Develop and improve vehicle and environment simulation models to verify system requirements.
• Conduct trade studies to inform aircraft design and system architecture.
• Collaborate with Flight Test teams to design and evaluate vehicle capabilities safely.
• Analyze full-scale and subscale flight data to refine simulation fidelity.
• Author software requirements and test cases to drive GNC software design.

Requirements

• BS in Aerospace, Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field (5+ years exp) or MS (3+ years exp).
• Strong knowledge of vehicle dynamics, optimization, and both classical and modern control theory.
• Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink.
• Must be authorized to work in the US (no visa sponsorship available).

Nice to have

• Experience verifying GNC systems in simulation and on hardware.
• Expertise in aircraft or rotorcraft performance and handling qualities.
• Experience with envelope protection, physics modeling, sensors, and actuators.
• Knowledge of fault detection, isolation, or trajectory optimization algorithms.
• Flight testing or piloting experience with piloted or autonomous aircraft/rotorcraft.

Culture & Benefits

• Commitment to an equitable and inclusive environment that celebrates differences.
• Opportunity to solve hard problems in the sustainable air mobility sector.
• Merit-based career growth and decision-making process.