Controls, Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Engineer (GN&C Senior Engineer) (ES5)

About the role

The Amentum Space Exploration Division (ASED) Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) team is a high performing group executing challenging tasks to design and integrate GN&C systems for projects ranging from CubeSats to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).

Responsibilities

• Review and analyze the mission design and/or the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) design of Golden Dome providers, perform independent verification and/or validation of contractor results where necessary, and identify risks in the providers’ proposed concepts and designs.
• Review and co-develop Concepts of Operations (ConOps) for in-space technology demonstration satellite bus contractors and proposed missions, including operational modes, mission phases, state transitions, nominal and contingency operations, and command and control architecture.
• Review, analyze, and simulate (in Systems Tool Kit (STK) or equivalent) in-space deployer platform trajectories, including orbital mechanics validation, orbital variation analysis of deployed assets, and evaluation of deployment sequencing and phasing strategies.
• Review, analyze, and independently simulate in-space deployer pointing stability performance and detumble requirements for deployed assets, including analysis of angular rates, momentum management, disturbance torques, separation dynamics, and time-to-stabilization for deployed payloads.
• Review, analyze, and independently simulate pointing accuracy and stability of multiple assets within the Golden Dome architecture, including jitter analysis, slew rate performance, target tracking capabilities, line-of-sight stability, attitude knowledge and control error budgets, and inter-satellite relative attitude coordination.
• Review and assist with technology maturation efforts through the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale for ultimate incorporation into Golden Dome assets, including assessment of development progress, identification of technical gaps, evaluation of test and validation approaches, and recommendations for advancement criteria.
• Attend offsite Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs) with providers and subcontractors to review technical progress, assess design maturity, provide independent technical evaluation, and identify integration risks and mitigation strategies.
• Attend regular status meetings with NASA management and critical stakeholders to provide technical briefings, communicate risk assessments, report on provider performance, and coordinate inter-agency technical activities.

Qualifications

• A degree in Aerospace, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or related field from an ABET accredited institution is required.
• Typical experience requirements are the equivalent of a PhD with at least 9 years of experience, a master’s with at least 13 years of experience, or BS with at least 15 years of experience.
• Must be a US Citizen and have a state STAR/REAL ID/Driver’s License that is Federal Government compliant.

Skills and Experience

• Proficiency modeling, simulating, and analyzing the performance of satellites, spacecraft, launch vehicles, and/or missiles in the time domain using parametric, Monte Carlo, and statistical techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to design ADCS systems (PID, state space, etc.) and analyze ADCS performance including jitter analysis and stability analysis in the time and frequency domain (Nicols, Bode, Nyquist, Root Locus, etc.).
• Capability to model spacecraft components/subsystems such as: mass properties, Thrust Vector Control (TVC) actuators, Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters, reaction wheels, slosh, pogo, rigid and/or flexible body dynamics.
• Understanding of and simulation of orbital mechanics and trajectories for spacecraft and launch vehicles in Systems Tool Kit (STK) or equivalent tools.
• Programming in MATLAB, Simulink, and C/C++.
• Experience in performing software development, verification, and validation.
• Ability to work problems from first principles, including derivation of dynamics equations of motion, including both nonlinear equations and linear state equations and integrate subsystem models into larger simulations.
• Experience performing trade studies, sensitivity, and/or Monte Carlo simulation and analyses related to the control of launch vehicles and/or spacecraft.
• Familiarity with and the ability to apply the NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale.
• Experience with creating animations/visualization from results of 3-DoF/6-DoF simulations using tools such as Unreal Engine, Systems Tool Kit (STK), etc.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and holidays
• Roth 401(k) matching
• Education reimbursement
• Parental leave
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Tax-saving options
• Disability and life insurance
• Pet insurance

Pay

Compensation details are provided as a good-faith estimate of what the company intends to offer for this role at the time this posting was issued. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as job responsibilities, education, experience, skills, internal equity, market data, applicable collective bargaining agreements, and relevant laws.

Schedule

Normal workday 7:30-4:30, Monday thru Friday. Minimal overtime may be required to meet schedule milestones and to support technical demands of the job.