GNC Engineer II

Job Title: GNC Engineer

Location: Leander, TX

Employment Type: Direct Hire 

Industry: Aerospace & Defense

Compensation: 150k /year. 

Schedule: 40 hrs/Week. 

About the Opportunity:

• In this role, you will develop GNC and simulation software tailored to high-speed flight regimes, perform dynamic analyses across diverse trajectory profiles, and support mission operations while building breadth across multiple vehicle programs. 
• This position offers hands-on experience with launch vehicle ascent guidance, hypersonic guidance algorithms, attitude control in high dynamic pressure environments, and real-time flight operations in a fast-paced environment.

Why You'll Love Working Here:

• Supportive, team-driven culture that values collaboration, transparency, and accountability.
• Opportunity to grow your career with a global workforce solutions leader serving multiple industries.
• People-first environment that encourages employees to bring their authentic selves to work.
• Strong focus on partnership, innovation, and delivering meaningful results for clients and candidates.

Why This Opportunity is Exciting:

This role offers the opportunity to join a company that prioritizes both people and performance-where your contributions directly impact client success while providing you with room to grow and develop professionally. 

About Acara Solutions

Acara is a premier recruiting and workforce solutions provider- we help companies compete for talent. With experience across industries worldwide, we partner with clients, listen to their needs, and design talent solutions that deliver the business outcomes they want. We draw on decades of experience to provide contingent staffing, direct placement, executive search, and workforce services worldwide.

Sound like a good fit?

TODAY

What You'll Do:

• You will deepen your technical capabilities in flight mechanics and controls, with particular emphasis on hypersonic applications, taking ownership of system elements and software tools supporting the client's expanding vehicle portfolio.
• Develop and validate GNC software to ensure successful mission execution across multiple vehicle programs.
• Design and tune attitude determination and control algorithms for all phases of flight, including boost, ascent, and terminal phases.
• Perform 6DOF dynamic analysis of nominal and dispersed trajectories including aerodynamic heating effects, trajectory shaping, and range optimization.
• Develop and maintain simulation models for aerodynamics, hypersonic thermal constraints, propulsion systems, sensors, and actuators.
• Create tools to automate workflows, process flight data, and generate technical reports for vehicle performance.
• Conduct stability analysis, sensitivity studies, and hardware-in-the-loop testing of GNC systems under flight conditions, including off-nominal scenarios.
• Interface with cross-discipline teams (aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal) to integrate GNC software with vehicle hardware.
• Support trajectory optimization and targeting for mission profiles including launch vehicles and high-speed flight regimes.
• Serve as a GNC console operator for vehicle launch operations and perform post-flight analysis to improve vehicle models and performance predictions.
• Author technical documentation and analysis reports that communicate GNC concepts and results to diverse audiences.
• Build proficiency across GNC competencies while contributing to continuous improvement of GNC processes and tools.

Job Requirements

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering or Physics or Mathematics or Computer Science.
• 2+ years of experience in aerospace guidance, navigation, and control.
• 2+ years of experience in Python for scripting, data analysis, and visualization.
• 2+ years of  Hypersonic experience.
• 2+ years of experience in trajectory and mission design.

What Sets You Apart:

• Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering.
• PhD.
• Understanding of flight mechanics, aerodynamics, and attitude dynamics.
• Familiarity with numerical simulation techniques, integration methods, and modeling of dynamic systems.
• Familiarity with C++ for real-time or flight-critical applications.
• Understanding of software development best practices, including version control (Git), code documentation, and testing.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Focus on GNC, flight mechanics, hypersonics, or controls.
• Experience supporting launch vehicle or hypersonic vehicle GNC across development, integration, and flight.
• Experience with high-speed or hypersonic flight test, wind tunnel testing, or flight dynamics analysis.
• Knowledge of aerodynamic and aerothermal effects on vehicle performance and control, particularly in high-speed flight regimes.
• Understanding of trajectory optimization techniques for hypersonic mission profiles including skip trajectories, boost-glide profiles, and multi-phase mission design.
• Proficiency in C++ for embedded systems or real-time applications.
• Knowledge of state estimation techniques including Kalman filtering, sensor fusion, and covariance analysis.
• Experience with control allocation and adaptive control techniques for vehicles with varying control authority.
• Familiarity with modern flight software frameworks and real-time operating systems.
• Familiarity with CI/CD workflows and automated testing practices.
• Experience with Linux development environments and command-line tools.
• Exposure to flight test campaigns, launch operations, or mission operations.
• Understanding of multi-phase trajectory design for vehicles transitioning between propulsion modes or flight regimes.
• Good GNC background, especially for suborbital or hypersonic applications.

Additional Information:

• Upon offer of employment, the individual will be subject to a background check and drug screen.

After you , you may receive a call or message from our AI Talent Scout about this role or other opportunities that match your skills and preferences. AI agent role is to help speed up your hiring process by answering questions, confirming basic information, and identifying whether there's a mutual fit.

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Aleron companies (Acara Solutions, Aleron Shared Resources, Broadleaf Results, Lume Strategies, TalentRise, Viaduct) are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Race/Color/Gender/Religion/National Origin/Disability/Veteran.

Applicants for this position must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position does not meet the employment requirements for individuals with F-1 OPT STEM work authorization status.