Staff GNC Engineer (Spacecraft GNC)

Location: Hybrid position near Long Beach, California or Denver, Colorado

Base salary: $165,000–$290,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for U.S. and allied space operations.

What you will do

• Own the end-to-end development of spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control systems, from architecture and algorithm design through implementation, hardware integration, verification, and flight operations.
• Design, test, and validate GNC flight software for spacecraft operating in LEO, GEO, and cislunar environments.
• Develop attitude and orbit determination algorithms, sensor fusion, state estimation, covariance analysis, Kalman filtering, and robust control laws.
• Build and improve high-fidelity 6-DOF simulations, sensor and actuator models, disturbance environments, Monte Carlo pipelines, and SIL/HIL integrations.
• Lead GNC trade studies, define subsystem requirements and verification plans, and support SRR, PDR, and CDR design reviews.
• Coordinate with avionics, software, propulsion, mechanisms, mission operations, and systems engineering teams; support commissioning, maneuver planning, fault investigation, and anomaly resolution.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or a related discipline; an advanced degree is preferred.
• 12+ years of hands-on experience developing and fielding spacecraft GNC systems.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and Python, including numerical methods and algorithm implementation.
• Deep knowledge of spacecraft attitude dynamics, orbital mechanics, environmental perturbations, actuator and sensor physics, estimation, filtering, control analysis, and navigation performance.
• Experience integrating GNC algorithms with flight hardware such as star trackers, IMUs, reaction wheels, GN&C avionics, and propulsion components, as well as defining requirements and verification plans.
• Must be a U.S. citizen and eligible for DoD Secret or TS/SCI clearance; ITAR eligibility requires U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residency, protected-individual status, or applicable authorization.

Nice to have

• Experience with proximity operations, formation flying, optical navigation, autonomous maneuvering, or precision pointing missions.
• Expertise in GNC fault detection, isolation, and recovery, autonomous guidance, or onboard trajectory optimization.
• Familiarity with safety-critical or fault-tolerant flight software, real-time operating systems, embedded software, and hardware-in-the-loop testbeds.
• Technical leadership experience, including major subsystem ownership or full GNC architecture.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on autonomous spacecraft, payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors.
• Health, dental, vision, HRA/HSA options, paid time off, and paid holidays.
• 401(k), parental leave, and equity participation.
• Collaborative cross-disciplinary environment with opportunities to mentor engineers and establish GNC standards.