GNC Engineer II, Hypersonics

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands‑on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

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What does SciTec bring to the Firefly family?
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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
• 3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Mental health services
• Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

• 12 weeks paid maternity leave
• 4 weeks paid spouse leave
• $20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
• Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

• $10k/year towards trade school or college
• Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
  • Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
  • 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
  • $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

ABOUT

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

As a Hypersonics focused GNC Engineer at Firefly, you will design, analyze, develop, and test guidance, navigation, and control systems for advanced hypersonic flight vehicles. In this role, you will develop GNC algorithms and simulation software, perform high-fidelity trajectory and vehicle dynamics analysis, and support integration and flight test activities.

You will work across guidance, navigation, controls, aerodynamics, propulsion, flight software, and vehicle systems to develop robust GNC solutions capable of operating in highly dynamic, uncertain, and stressing flight environments. This position offers hands‑on ownership of algorithms and analysis from early vehicle development through hardware-in-the-loop testing and flight operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, implement, and validate guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for hypersonic and high-speed atmospheric flight vehicles.
• Perform 6DOF modeling, simulation, and Monte Carlo analysis across nominal, dispersed, and off-nominal flight conditions.
• Develop and evaluate trajectory guidance, targeting, and optimization algorithms for boost, glide, maneuvering, terminal, and other applicable flight phases.
• Design and tune attitude, flight-path, and vehicle control algorithms considering aerodynamic, propulsion, actuator, and structural constraints.
• Develop navigation and state-estimation algorithms incorporating IMUs, GPS/GNSS, and other vehicle sensor data.
• Conduct stability, robustness, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses across highly nonlinear and rapidly changing flight regimes.
• Develop and maintain models of vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, sensors, actuators, atmospheric environments, and other relevant system effects.
• Support software-in-the-loop (SIL), processor-in-the-loop (PIL), and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and integration of GNC algorithms with flight software and vehicle hardware.
• Analyze ground and flight-test data to assess GNC performance, correlate vehicle models, identify root causes, and improve future vehicle performance.
• Collaborate with aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, avionics, flight software, systems engineering, and test teams throughout the vehicle development lifecycle.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science, or a related technical field.
• 2–5 years of professional experience in guidance, navigation, controls, flight dynamics, trajectory analysis, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong understanding of rigid-body dynamics, flight mechanics, feedback control systems, and numerical simulation.
• Experience developing or analyzing GNC systems for aerospace vehicles such as hypersonic vehicles, missiles, launch vehicles, reentry vehicles, high-performance aircraft, or other autonomous flight systems.
• Experience with 3DOF and/or 6DOF vehicle simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, uncertainty propagation, and performance assessment.
• Proficiency with Python, MATLAB/Simulink, or similar tools for modeling, simulation, algorithm development, and data analysis.
• Familiarity with C/C++ and implementation of algorithms in embedded, real-time, or flight-critical software environments.
• Understanding of software development practices including Git/version control, code reviews, testing, verification, and technical documentation.
• Master’s or PhD in aerospace engineering, controls, robotics, applied mathematics, or a related field with emphasis on GNC, flight dynamics, optimization, or autonomous systems.
• Direct experience developing GNC algorithms for hypersonic glide vehicles, boost-glide systems, maneuvering reentry vehicles, missiles, interceptors, or other high-speed atmospheric vehicles.
• Knowledge of hypersonic flight dynamics, including aerodynamic nonlinearities, rapidly varying dynamic pressure, atmospheric uncertainty, thermal constraints, and coupled aero‑propulsive effects.
• Experience with trajectory optimization, optimal control, predictive guidance, nonlinear guidance, or real-time targeting techniques.
• Experience with modern control techniques such as LQR/LQG, gain scheduling, nonlinear control, robust control, adaptive control, or model predictive control.
• Experience with navigation and state estimation, including Kalman filtering, extended/unscented Kalman filters, inertial navigation, GPS/GNSS integration, and sensor fusion.
• Experience developing aerodynamic databases or incorporating CFD, wind‑tunnel, or flight‑test data into vehicle simulations and GNC analysis.
• Experience with SIL, PIL, HIL, real‑time simulation, embedded processors, or flight‑computer integration.
• Familiarity with flight‑test planning, test execution, telemetry analysis, and post‑flight model reconstruction.
• Experience working on defense programs and familiarity with development environments involving ITAR/EAR, classified systems, or U.S. Government customers.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status

Primary Level Salary Range:

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, relocation benefits, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.