GNC Engineer

GNC Engineer Arlington, Virginia I'm looking for a GNC Engineer to develop and sustain the guidance, navigation, and control software that powers advanced unmanned systems. Your primary focus will be enabling strike drone capabilities, including integration of the software stack onto partner hardware and ensuring reliable performance in operational environments. You’ll work closely with product and field teams to improve system performance, support deployments, and rapidly troubleshoot issues observed during testing and real-world operations. Responsibilities Develop and maintain guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) capabilities, including new features, performance improvements, and automated testing Own and evolve the US guidance controller for strike applications, ensuring robustness and mission effectiveness Define, analyze, and review software requirements to meet customer needs, system performance targets, and quality standards Design and implement flight- and mission-critical onboard software for unmanned systems Diagnose and resolve GNC-related issues from field operations through flight log analysis, providing rapid initial assessment and driving root-cause resolution Collaborate with product, integration, and flight operations teams to support deployments and continuously improve system performance Travel to customer sites (typically 1–2 weeks at a time) to support platform integration, testing, and advanced GNC tuning Qualifications Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field Strong grasp of flight dynamics and fundamentals of aerodynamics Proficient in C/C++ (particularly on Linux-based systems and memory-constrained embedded processors) and Python Working knowledge of PX4 or comparable autopilot technology Experience programming robotic applications in ROS/ROS2 Understanding of Kalman filtering and other state estimation algorithms Strong written and verbal communication skills Hands-on drone experience, including piloting, is a plus US citizenship and eligibility to obtain a Secret clearance required Compensation