Autonomy Engineer, GNC (Aerospace Engineer)

About the role

Redwire is an innovative space and defense technology company driving advanced capabilities across the aerospace sector. We are looking for a leader who can contribute to concept of operations development, mission solution design, and strategic analysis for spacecraft programs supporting National Security Space. This includes work spanning space domain awareness, space resiliency, mission autonomy, structures, sensors, and next‑generation space systems.

Responsibilities

• Build and integrate GNC software and hardware subsystems across all orbital regimes, collaborating closely with spacecraft bus providers and internal engineering teams.
• Develop software‑defined autonomy that enables precise maneuvering, safe navigation, and robust mission execution.
• Design flight‑software algorithms and create high‑fidelity 6‑DOF simulation environments supporting SIL, HIL, and advanced mission analysis.
• Develop and execute validation plans for ground checkout, on‑orbit commissioning, and operational phases; support launch campaigns and real‑time mission operations.
• Expand and apply sensor‑fusion and estimation frameworks (EKF, UKF, batch least‑squares) for AOD/AOE, and refine control laws to meet stability, performance, and robustness requirements.
• Conduct trade studies for key GNC components—reaction wheels, torque rods, thrusters, star trackers, sun sensors, IMUs, GNSS, and RF/optical navigation sensors—and recommend optimal configurations.
• Provide Monte Carlo analysis and hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing capabilities to validate behavior across nominal and off‑nominal scenarios.
• Define GNC requirements, interfaces, and verification plans alongside avionics, propulsion, mission operations, systems engineering, and flight software teams.
• Collaborate directly with operators and mission partners to translate mission needs into practical, high‑performance GNC features.
• Support on‑orbit commissioning, calibration, maneuver planning, anomaly resolution, and automated fault‑response logic development.

Requirements

• 2+ years of professional software engineering experience focused on Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), designing and delivering core systems.
• Strong engineering foundation in Aerospace, Dynamics & Controls, Computer