Sentinel - Hypersonic Testbed GN&C Engineer

About the role

The Principal GN&C Engineer/Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer position supports the technical development of the Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in Exoatmospheric and Endoatmospheric flight. The role involves tuning and implementing flight control algorithms, performing trajectory assessments, collaborating with a team of GN&C engineers, and participating in various engineering review boards.

Responsibilities

• Support the technical development of the Hypersonic Testbed vehicles' autopilot for precision at high Mach in Exoatmospheric and Endoatmospheric flight.
• Have expertise in both classical and modern control theory for autopilot development (PID controller design, gain scheduling, optimal and robust control techniques).
• Mature existing control algorithms and analysis tools, and tune the autopilot(s) for emerging missions supporting a variety of SDS Futures Programs.
• Conduct covariance analysis and circular error probable accuracy assessment.
• Participate in engineering review boards, technical interchange meetings, and critical milestone reviews.
• Determine and report incremental performance improvements.
• Respond to analysis package requests.
• Perform trajectory assessment and flight analyses.
• Collaborate with a team of GN&C engineers in an Agile environment to meet critical milestones.
• Develop and analyze GNC algorithms (Guidance, Navigation, Autopilot).
• Develop, verify, and validate complex 6 degrees of freedom vehicle models.
• Model missile components such as inertial measurement units (IMU), electronic control actuators, and thrust vector control (TVC) systems.
• Use C++ and MATLAB and Object-Oriented design.
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development stages utilizing (M&S) tools systems for safety and mission critical analysis.
• Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high-level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.
• Serve on one or more Advanced Programs (SDS Futures' Group) initiatives in the hypersonic arena.

Requirements

• Principal GN&C Engineer: Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5 years of experience, 3 years of experience with master’s degree, 0 years of experience with PhD.
• Sr. Principal GN&C Engineer: Bachelor's degree in STEM and 8 years of experience, 6 years of experience with master’s degree, 4 years of experience with PhD.

Qualifications

• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain TOP SECRET clearance and Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Ability to obtain TOP SECRET clearance and Special Access within a reasonable period as determined by the business needs of the company.

Skills

• Experience with guidance law design for trajectory shaping and precision impact requirements.
• Extensive experience with MATLAB/Simulink.
• Experience with Object-Oriented Programming.
• Experience in covariance and CEP analysis.
• Experience designing, analyzing, and tuning autopilot algorithms for missile, hypersonic, or unmanned aircraft systems.
• Strong grasp of both classical and modern control theory, including PID, gain scheduling, state-space control, optimal control, or robust control techniques.
• Experience designing gain-scheduled or adaptive flight control systems across a wide flight envelope.
• Familiarity with nonlinear control techniques such as dynamic inversion, LQR/LQG, MPC, or adaptive control.
• Experience designing actuator dynamic models, including bandwidth, rate limiting, position limits, hysteresis, backlash, deadband, and saturation effects.
• Experience evaluating actuator performance across varying environmental and operational conditions.
• Knowledge of state estimation techniques, such as Kalman filtering or complementary filtering.
• Experience transitioning theoretical algorithms into flight-ready software using Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) applications.
• Experience with a software version control system, such as Git, Gitlab, and/or Bitbucket.
• Experience with the Atlassian tool set, Agile Development, Model Based Engineering, and Software Development best practices.
• Experience with certification, airworthiness, testing, or qualification of flight and safety critical systems.

Benefits

Northrop Grumman offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental & vision coverage, 401(k), educational assistance, life insurance, employee assistance programs & work/life solutions, paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business, and a robust benefits package including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business. The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.