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Northrop Grumman · 1 week ago

Principal/Sr Principal GNC Engineer

Dulles, VA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$114K/yr - $171K/yr

5+ years exp

Northrop Grumman is a leading aerospace and defense technology company, and they are seeking a motivated candidate for the position of Principal/Senior Principal Engineer within their Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) department. The role involves designing, developing, and testing machine perception algorithms for spacecraft, collaborating with engineering teams, and ensuring seamless integration of systems.

AerospaceData IntegrationManufacturingRemote SensingSecurity

Growth Opportunities

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Design, develop, integrate, and test machine perception algorithms for real-time on-board processing on space vehicles and near-real-time processing within ground systems

Conduct rigorous testing, validation, and tuning of celestial navigation algorithms

Collaborate with other engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of machine perception systems with the overall space system

Design, analyze, and tune spacecraft attitude and position control loops using time and frequency domain techniques

Design, analyze, and tune sequential filters (e.g. Kalman filters) for attitude determination and relative navigation

Analyze and test the spacecraft GNC subsystem performance using simulations and other analytic tools

Implement GNC algorithms in flight software and support flight software qualification testing

Perform analysis to support early design phase concept development including actuator sizing and placement, sensor selection and placement, and predicted performance assessments

Develop simulation models for sensors (e.g. star tracker, rate gyro, accelerometer, GPS, magnetometer, sun sensors), actuators (e.g. reaction wheel, torque bar, thruster, CMG), system dynamics (e.g. rigid body, multi-body, orbit mechanics, flexible models), and the space environment (e.g. atmospheric, solar radiation pressure, third-body gravity, geopotential)

Apply engineering principles, industry standards, company process, and knowledge of machine perception, vehicle dynamics, propulsion, classical/modern control, and estimation theory to perform tasks to advance program/project goals

Document designs, analysis, and test results, and generate presentation material

Participate in peer reviews with internal and external customers

Work well within small- to medium-sized groups

Qualification

Machine PerceptionComputer VisionCelestial NavigationMATLAB/SimulinkC/C++PythonEmbedded SystemsModel-Based Systems EngineeringVersion Control SystemsAnalytical SkillsProblem-SolvingCommunication Skills

Required

Principal Level: BS Degree in Engineering, Physics, or Math with at least 5 years of professional experience (3 years with Masters, or 0 years with Ph.D.)

Sr. Principal Level: BS Degree in Engineering, Physics, or Math with at least 8 years of professional experience (6 years with Masters, or 3 years with Ph.D.)

Active Top Secret clearance and eligibility for SCI at the time of application

U.S. citizenship is required for this position