GNC Engineer - Build the guidance and autonomy stack for a new class of interceptor systems
Hawthorne, California | On-site
Opportunity Summary
Join a recently funded seed-stage defense technology startup developing a new generation of low-cost interceptor systems for rapidly evolving airborne threats. The company has already designed, built, and demonstrated working flight hardware with military users and is now expanding its engineering team as it moves from successful early intercepts toward deployable systems. As a GNC Engineer, you will take real ownership of the vehicle's guidance, navigation, and control software, building on a flight-proven foundation and extending it to new targets, environments, and vehicle configurations. This is an early-career role on a small team: you will work closely with experienced engineers, write code that flies, and see your algorithms tested on real hardware within weeks rather than years.
About Us
We are a seed-stage defense technology company developing compact, highly maneuverable interceptor systems designed around significantly lower cost, faster iteration, and scalable manufacturing. The team is intentionally small and engineering-driven, with individual engineers owning meaningful portions of the vehicle rather than narrow pieces of a larger program. The company has completed successful customer demonstrations, recently secured additional financing, and is growing the core engineering team with motivated early-career engineers who want to learn fast and take on responsibility.
Job Duties
- Develop, test, and improve GNC software across state estimation, guidance, flight control, and vehicle autonomy
- Build on existing flight-proven algorithms to handle broader target sets and operating conditions
- Implement and tune state estimators, sensor fusion, and target-tracking algorithms
- Develop and tune guidance laws and flight-control loops for highly dynamic vehicles
- Build and maintain 6-DOF simulation, Monte Carlo, and hardware-in-the-loop test environments
- Write flight software in C/C++ for embedded hardware and use Python for simulation, analysis, and test automation
- Work alongside electrical, mechanical, propulsion, and embedded engineers to define sensor, actuator, and compute requirements
- Support integration testing, range operations, and flight tests, including time in the field
- Analyze flight data and turn test results into concrete improvements to algorithms and vehicle design
- Document designs, test results, and lessons learned to help establish GNC standards as the team grows
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Applied Mathematics, or a related discipline
- 0-3 years of professional experience; recent graduates with strong hands-on project experience are encouraged to apply
- Hands-on experience applying controls, estimation, or guidance on real hardware through internships, research, or student teams (rocketry, UAS, Formula SAE, robotics, CubeSat, or similar)
- Solid foundation in classical and modern control theory, dynamics, and linear algebra
- Familiarity with Kalman filtering or other state estimation and sensor fusion techniques
- Programming experience in C or C++ and strong Python skills for modeling, simulation, and data analysis
- Experience building or working with simulations of dynamic systems (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, or similar)
- Curiosity, ownership, and a drive to learn quickly in a fast-moving startup environment
- Ability to work on-site in Hawthorne, California
Preferred Experience
- Internship or project experience in GNC for drones, rockets, missiles, aircraft, spacecraft, or autonomous vehicles
- Exposure to embedded or real-time software development
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing or flight testing
- Familiarity with Monte Carlo simulation and statistical performance analysis
- Exposure to target tracking, intercept guidance, or GPS-denied navigation
- Experience with sensors such as IMUs, GPS, radar, or cameras
- A graduate degree with research in controls, estimation, robotics, or autonomy
Why Join Us
- Own meaningful pieces of the GNC stack early in your career rather than a narrow task within a large program
- Learn directly from an experienced, hands-on team on a small engineering staff
- Build on a vehicle platform that has already completed successful real-world demonstrations
- See your work move quickly from simulation to hardware and flight
- Grow with the company and help shape the GNC function as the team expands
- Early-stage equity
- Performance-based bonuses for exceptional contributions
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Company-provided meals during working days and launch activities
- Paid time off and company holidays
Compensation Details
$100,000 - $160,000
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