Principal Inertial Navigation & IMU Subject Matter Expert

Job Description

Job Description

Principal Inertial Navigation & IMU Subject Matter Expert

Position Summary

IS4S is seeking a Principal Inertial Navigation and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) Subject Matter Expert to support the development, integration, evaluation, and qualification of advanced positioning, navigation, and timing solutions for military aviation applications.

The successful candidate will serve as a technical authority for navigation-grade and high-performance tactical-grade IMUs used primarily on manned military aircraft. Direct experience developing, manufacturing, qualifying, or delivering IMUs or inertial navigation systems is strongly desired.

Experience with Ring Laser Gyro (RLG)-based systems is preferred. Candidates with significant Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG) experience will also receive strong consideration.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical subject matter expert for inertial sensors, IMUs, inertial navigation systems, and integrated navigation solutions.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the IMU and navigation-system lifecycle, including requirements development, architecture, design, integration, calibration, verification, qualification, production, and fielded-system support.
• Evaluate navigation-grade and tactical-grade IMUs for suitability across manned military aviation platforms.
• Lead or support IMU selection activities, technical evaluations, market research, alternatives analyses, and technology trade studies.
• Assess gyro and accelerometer technologies, error sources, calibration approaches, navigation performance, reliability, producibility, and suitability for specific military aircraft applications.
• Analyze IMU performance characteristics, including:
  • Gyro and accelerometer bias
  • Bias stability and repeatability
  • Scale-factor error
  • Misalignment and cross-axis sensitivity
  • Angle random walk and velocity random walk
  • Noise and drift
  • Temperature sensitivity
  • Vibration and environmental effects
• Assess navigation performance during GPS/GNSS degradation or denial, including free-inertial, blended, and coasting performance.
• Support the integration of IMUs with GPS/GNSS receivers, navigation processors, Kalman filters, mission computers, and other navigation-aiding sources.
• Develop and review technical requirements, performance specifications, interface-control documentation, verification criteria, qualification strategies, test plans, and technical reports.
• Plan and support laboratory, hardware-in-the-loop, ground, environmental, qualification, and flight-test activities.
• Analyze test and flight data, identify performance shortfalls, determine root causes, and recommend corrective actions.
• Evaluate supplier designs, technical proposals, product roadmaps, manufacturing approaches, and claimed system performance.
• Support the resolution of technical and production issues involving inertial sensors, electronics, embedded software, navigation algorithms, calibration, or system-level integration.
• Support technical reviews, trade studies, design reviews, test-readiness reviews, qualification reviews, and customer technical interchange meetings.
• Communicate complex navigation concepts, technical risks, and recommended solutions to engineering teams, program leadership, customers, and government stakeholders.
• Mentor engineering personnel and provide technical guidance across multidisciplinary teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, applied mathematics, or a related technical field.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience with IMUs, inertial navigation systems, integrated navigation solutions, or closely related technologies.
• Demonstrated proficiency with navigation-grade and/or high-performance tactical-grade IMUs.
• Strong knowledge of gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial-navigation principles, sensor-error modeling, calibration, and navigation-performance analysis.
• Experience supporting IMUs or inertial navigation systems intended for military aviation or comparably demanding aerospace applications.
• Experience integrating IMUs into embedded, airborne, military, or other safety-critical navigation systems.
• Experience with GPS/GNSS-aided inertial navigation and navigation-filter concepts.
• Ability to assess gyro and accelerometer performance, including bias, drift, scale-factor error, noise, misalignment, environmental sensitivity, and reliability.
• Ability to interpret and develop technical requirements, performance specifications, interface-control documentation, test procedures, and verification criteria.
• Experience analyzing laboratory, environmental, ground-test, qualification, or flight-test data.
• Strong technical writing, presentation, and customer-facing communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with systems, hardware, software, integration, test, manufacturing, and platform engineering teams.
• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain the security clearance required for the position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience working for an IMU or inertial navigation-system manufacturer, or in a comparable role involving the design, development, production, qualification, or delivery of navigation-grade IMUs.
• Direct experience developing, producing, qualifying, or serving as a technical authority for Ring Laser Gyro-based IMUs or inertial navigation systems.
• Significant experience with Fiber Optic Gyro-based IMUs or inertial navigation systems.
• Experience supporting an IMU through multiple phases of its its product lifecycle, including requirements development, design, integration, calibration, verification, environmental qualification, production, acceptance testing, and fielded-system support.
• Experience delivering qualified inertial-navigation hardware to a U.S. military service, military aircraft prime contractor, or major avionics-system integrator.
• Experience with navigation-grade IMUs installed on fixed-wing manned military aircraft.
• Experience comparing RLG, FOG, MEMS, and other inertial-sensor technologies.
• Knowledge of the military inertial-navigation supplier base, relevant technologies, and current product capabilities.
• Experience with contested, degraded, or GPS-denied navigation environments.
• Experience with Kalman filtering, sensor fusion, aided navigation, and blended navigation architectures.
• Familiarity with modeling and simulation tools such as MATLAB, Simulink, Python, or equivalent analytical environments.
• Familiarity with military airworthiness, environmental qualification, configuration management, obsolescence management, manufacturing, and production-acceptance requirements.
• Familiarity with applicable military and aviation environmental, electromagnetic-compatibility, hardware- and software-development, and qualification standards, including MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, RTCA DO-160, RTCA DO-178C and RTCA DO-254.
• Experience supporting technical reviews, trade studies, design reviews, test-readiness reviews, system qualification, and flight-test programs.
• Master’s degree in a relevant engineering or technical discipline.
• Current or previously held U.S. government security clearance.

Desired Candidate Attributes

The ideal candidate combines deep inertial-navigation expertise with practical experience developing, producing, integrating, qualifying, or delivering operational IMU hardware. This individual should be comfortable working at both the detailed sensor-performance level and the broader integrated-navigation-system level.

The candidate should be capable of independently evaluating IMU technologies and supplier solutions, identifying technical and program risks, and translating complex engineering findings into clear recommendations for customers and program leadership.

Benefits Summary

Competitive salary with comprehensive health and wellness benefits

Dynamic and collaborative work environment

Employee ownership

Medical, dental, and vision care plans

Paid time-off and parental leave programs

Group term life insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Tuition Assistance, Training, and education development offerings