GNC Engineer

Location: Scottsdale, AZ Salary: $60.00 USD Hourly - $90.00 USD Hourly Description:
Senior GNC & Autonomy Engineer
About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) / Autonomy Engineer to lead the development of advanced flight control and autonomy systems for a next-generation small unmanned electric aircraft.

Our team operates in a fast-paced, hands-on environment that values innovation, technical excellence, practicality, and reliability. In this role, you will collaborate closely with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and subject matter experts, contributing to every stage of aircraft development, from concept and system architecture through testing and flight validation.
Required Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• Minimum of 5 years of experience developing GNC software for embedded systems
• Proven experience leading the complete development lifecycle of embedded systems, from architecture through deployment
• Hands-on, cross-functional experience spanning embedded software, electronics, and system integration
• 5+ years of engineering experience in a related industry
• Experience working in robotics, UAV, aerospace, or autonomous systems environments preferred

Desired Attributes

The ideal candidate is:

• Innovative, practical, and hands-on
• A strong analytical problem solver with a multidisciplinary engineering mindset
• Results-oriented and committed to continuous improvement
• Capable of balancing technical scope, schedule, and resource constraints
• Effective in both verbal and written communication
• Collaborative and able to work effectively across engineering disciplines
• Self-motivated, adaptable, and driven by technical excellence

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the adaptation, development, and optimization of onboard flight control systems for a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS)
• Collaborate with Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Engineering teams to translate system-level objectives into software requirements
• Partner with aircraft designers to define actuator sizing, placement, and control authority requirements through analysis and testing
• Design, implement, tune, and validate vehicle control architectures, component control loops, and state estimation algorithms
• Work with software engineers to develop and integrate 6-DOF Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) simulation environments
• Collaborate with aerospace engineers to develop and refine high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models
• Support project planning activities by estimating engineering effort, defining technical tasks, and aligning development activities with project schedules

Core Technical Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and tune state estimation algorithms
• Design, modify, and optimize vehicle-level and subsystem control loops
• Validate control system performance through simulation, testing, and flight evaluation
• Develop physics-based models for aircraft dynamics and onboard systems
• Evaluate, select, and integrate sensors, avionics, and computational hardware
• Contribute to the roadmap and implementation strategy for GPS-denied navigation and Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) capabilities

Technical Skills
Required

• Strong understanding of state estimation techniques and tuning methodologies
• Experience with control system design, analysis, and performance optimization
• Embedded software development, particularly in C/C++, for robotics, aerospace, or UAV applications
• Experience developing physics-based vehicle and actuator models
• Basic understanding of avionics systems and low-level hardware interfaces
• Ability to troubleshoot embedded hardware and avionics issues using schematics, wiring diagrams, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers
• Strong systems engineering and integration skills

Preferred

• Experience with Python and/or C#
• Experience with ArduPilot, PX4, or related open-source flight control platforms
• Familiarity with autonomous navigation technologies, including VIO and GPS-denied operations
• Experience with UAV flight testing and validation activities

Work Environment & Requirements

• Full-time, on-site position in a highly collaborative engineering environment
• Ability to work closely with multidisciplinary teams throughout the aircraft development lifecycle

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant engineering discipline
• 5+ years of engineering experience
• 5+ years of embedded systems development experience

Medical, dental, and vision insurance are available to qualified candidates who meet eligibility requirements.
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