Senior GNC Engineer, Navigation (Swarm/Vehicle)

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable, performant state estimation and navigation algorithms, simulations, tools, and dashboards in C++ and Python
• Own relative-state estimation for proximity operations and docking: design, implement, tune, and verify filters (EKF, UKF, etc)
• Deliver relative pose- and position-knowledge at the range-dependent requirements that guarantee closed-loop stability
• Derive measurement models from first principles for relative ranging and bearing from the tile sensor suite
• Define and own the perception interfaces to navigation
• Verify estimator performance and robustness with hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) experiments
• Support flight operations, monitor on-orbit health and performance, lead on-orbit anomaly investigations, and drive on-orbit system reliability of navigation algorithms
• Secondarily, support development of navigation algorithms for the assembled spacecraft

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace/electrical engineering, physics, mathematics, or other relevant engineering discipline
• Software development experience in C++ and Python
• Master's or PhD in an engineering discipline or physics: 5+ years of professional GNC or state-estimation experience
• Expertise in computer vision, sequential estimation techniques, including Kalman filtering, residual editing, filter tuning, covariance analysis, consider parameters, adaptive processes, and covariance realism
• Strong understanding of electromagnetic systems, orbital mechanics and high-fidelity orbit propagation (perturbations in low-Earth orbit, drag modeling, etc), and embedded software development
• Proficiency in measurement and sensor handling, including measurement processing, measurement modeling, debiasing, sensor calibration, image processing, optical observations, etc
• Proficiency in data analysis techniques, including statistical tests (e.g., chi-squared, Kolmogorov-Smirnov) and data correlation methods
• Past experience developing, testing, and deploying algorithms for real-world space/robotic applications, with proficiency in version control systems like Git
• Potential for identifying and solving complex problems with little to no supervision or direction in a fast-paced, start-up environment
• Passionate about solving hard problems, building things, and advancing the space industry
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills