Guidance Navigation Control (gnc) Engineering Analyst – Level 5

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman · Aerospace · Dulles, VA +1 · Systems/Architecture/Test

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Guidance Navigation Control (GNC) Engineering Analyst – Level 5 to join their Space Sector team in Dulles, VA. This role involves designing, analyzing, and tuning spacecraft attitude and position control loops, designing relative guidance solutions for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO), and designing/analyzing sequential filters like Kalman filters for attitude determination and relative navigation. The analyst will also perform simulations, support early design phase concept development, and develop simulation models for various spacecraft subsystems and the space environment. Strong communication skills, experience with MATLAB/Simulink and C/C++, and an active Top Secret security clearance are required.

What you'd actually do

  1. Design, analyze, and tune spacecraft attitude and position control loops using time and frequency domain techniques
  2. Design and analyze relative guidance solutions for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO)
  3. Design, analyze, and tune sequential filters (e.g. Kalman filters) for attitude determination and relative navigation
  4. Analyze and test the spacecraft GNC subsystem performance using simulations and other analytic tools
  5. Perform analysis to support early design phase concept development including actuator sizing and placement, sensor selection and placement, attitude and position guidance, rendezvous, proximity operations and docking analyses, and predicted performance assessments

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree with 12 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 10 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 8 years of professional experience
  • active U.S. Government Top-Secret [TS] security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with the ability to obtain and maintain SCI approval/access
  • Experience developing software in MATLAB/Simulink and C/C++
  • Experience in Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) subsystem design, analysis, and testing; can include Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS)

Nice to have

  • Current/Active SCI and/or SAP
  • MS or PhD in engineering, physics, or math
  • Experience with version control tools such as SVN or Git
  • Experience implementing spacecraft GNC algorithms on embedded systems
  • Strong technical fundamentals in the areas of spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics, navigation filtering and/or control systems design
  • Experience with on-orbit space vehicle operations, commanding, debugging, and use of flight telemetry to track performance metrics
  • Experience with Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) algorithms, practices and planning strategies
  • Experience with performing spacecraft GNC design, analysis, Hardware (HW) and Integration & Test (I&T), or flight operations.
  • Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities
  • Previous/current membership or leadership roles in professional groups, clubs, or extracurricular activities are desired

What the JD emphasized

  • active U.S. Government Top-Secret [TS] security clearance at time of application
  • ability to obtain and maintain SCI approval/access