Head of Guidance, Navigation & Control (GN&C)

About the Company

Our client is an early-stage aerospace company developing advanced autonomous spacecraft for national security and commercial space applications. They are building next-generation orbital systems focused on autonomy, resiliency, and mission-critical performance. This is an opportunity to join a small, highly technical team where engineers have significant ownership and direct impact on the product.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Head of Guidance, Navigation & Control (GN&C) to lead the architecture, development, and delivery of flight-critical control systems across an autonomous spacecraft portfolio. This is a hands-on technical leadership role for an individual who has designed and delivered GN&C systems from concept through flight while leading high-performing engineering teams.

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in orbital mechanics, control theory, state estimation, rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), and formation flying. This individual will serve as the technical authority for GN&C while remaining actively involved in the engineering work.

Responsibilities

• Own the GN&C architecture across all spacecraft programs

• Define technical strategy and roadmap for autonomous spacecraft control systems

• Lead development of GN&C algorithms supporting rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, and precision maneuvering

• Oversee development of ADCS, orbit determination, and state estimation systems

• Drive integration between GN&C, flight software, avionics, autonomy, and mission systems

• Establish engineering standards, modeling practices, and verification methodologies

• Lead simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, and performance validation activities

• Oversee hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and flight readiness efforts

• Recruit, mentor, and develop GN&C engineers

• Serve as the technical authority during program reviews, customer interactions, and executive discussions

Requirements

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field

• 10+ years of GN&C experience supporting spacecraft, launch vehicles, or autonomous systems

• Experience owning flight-critical GN&C systems from concept through operational deployment

• Deep understanding of orbital mechanics, nonlinear control systems, and state estimation

• Strong experience with rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and formation flying missions

• Demonstrated leadership of highly technical engineering teams

• Proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink, Python, and C/C++

• Experience integrating algorithms into embedded flight software and HIL environments

• Strong systems engineering mindset with the ability to work across multiple disciplines

• U.S. Citizenship required

• Ability to obtain or currently hold a TS/SCI clearance

Location

• Torrance, CA

• Full-time onsite position

• No remote or hybrid options available