Principal GNC Engineer Tracking & Estimation

Title: Principal GNC Engineer - Tracking & Estimation
Location: Onsite in Chandler AZ
Duration: 12 months
Terms: W2 Contract
Work Authorization: US Citizen; must hold an active/current Secret security clearance

• In this role you will lead the development and evaluation of guidance navigation and control systems for advanced aerospace applications focusing on seeker based missile engagements and precision intercept performance.
• You will own key algorithm design and analysis tasks applying mathematical models control theory and state estimation techniques to process complex seeker measurements and drive guidance and control laws.
• Your work will include architecting and maintaining six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) simulations defining performance metrics integrating hardware and software components and conducting rigorous performance assessments and trade studies.
• You will mentor early career engineers provide technical direction on seeker and tracking approaches and collaborate with cross functional teams to ensure system reliability and mission success.

• Leading the design development implementation verification and test of high quality flight and simulation software; owning the design and maintenance of 6 DOF simulations used to develop analyze and validate flight algorithms and code; optimizing flight and simulation software for performance robustness and maintainability; defining and executing analysis campaigns using trajectory optimization and evaluation tools; and presenting technical results risks and recommendations to program leadership.
• This position is contingent upon obtaining and maintaining required program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.

• Bachelors degree with 14 years of professional experience;
• OR a Masters degree with 12 years of professional experience;
• OR a PhD with 10 years of professional experience in electrical engineering aerospace engineering mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Must have an existing U.S. Government security clearance at the Secret level.
• Demonstrated experience with guidance navigation and control (GNC) concepts algorithms or analysis for aerospace or missile systems.
• Experience leading or significantly contributing to development modeling simulation test integration or analysis activities for aerospace missiles spacecraft or autonomous systems.
• Proficiency with one or more of the following: MATLAB/Simulink Python C/C or similar technical software tools with development in a Linux environment.

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in electrical engineering aerospace engineering mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Strong foundation in control systems theory guidance law development and flight software implementation.
• Experience with state estimation and nonlinear filtering (e.g. Kalman Filter Extended Kalman Filter Unscented Kalman Filter) including tuning and performance assessment in realistic scenarios.
• Deep domain knowledge in target tracking and seeker systems (infrared and/or radio frequency) including requirements definition and algorithm design.
• Experience developing and validating target dynamics and measurement models and integrating them into end to end 6 DOF simulations.
• Experience with seeker measurements such as angle only measurements line of sight (LOS) rate estimation pixel/centroid based measurements for infrared seekers and/or range range rate (Doppler) azimuth/elevation and angle only tracking for RF seekers.
• Experience with data association methods track initiation and maintenance logic and multi target tracking in the presence of false alarms and clutter.
• Proven ability to lead small technical teams or work packages mentor junior engineers and communicate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Strong proficiency in C/C and Python and experience with software development tools such as Jira version control and continuous integration workflows in a Linux environment.

Required Experience:

Staff IC