Flight Systems Futures - Staff GN&C Engineer

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is seeking a Staff Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) Engineer (level 5) to support activities including flight simulator development, GN&C algorithm development and implementation, and "test as you fly" with rigorous model and requirements verification and validation. This position will be in Roy, Utah supporting Flight Systems Futures.

What you will get to do:

The ideal candidate is a collaborative team player and a strong independent contributor, with demonstrated leadership, advanced problem-solving abilities, and excellent written and verbal communication skills. They bring strong interpersonal and organizational capabilities, a proactive mindset, and a meticulous, detail-oriented approach to their work.

Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead the development, verification, and validation of a 6-DOF missile flight simulation in a multi-disciplinary team environment.
• Design, implement, and integrate guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) algorithms for missile flight software.
• Develop, maintain, and enhance analysis and performance-assessment tools for GN&C algorithms using MATLAB, C++, and Python.
• Model missile components such as inertial measurement units (IMU) and thrust vector control (TVC) systems.
• Conduct system-level performance assessments against mission requirements and produce clear, data-driven validation reports.
• Analyze flight-test data and perform accuracy assessments to calibrate and refine GN&C models.
• Apply trajectory optimization and nonlinear control techniques to improve missile trajectory performance.
• Develop and execute hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing and real-time software integration for embedded GN&C controllers.
• Work with the GN&C Flight Software Team to automatically generate code from high-level specifications or models, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.
• Manage version control, continuous integration, and automated testing of GN&C software toolchains (e.g., Git, CI/CD pipelines).
• Serve as a technical liaison with customers and internal stakeholders, presenting analysis, findings, and recommendations.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical documentation, best practices, and knowledge transfer across the team.
• This position is contingent on contract award.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with 12 years of experience; or master’s degree with 10 years of experience; or PhD with 8 years of experience
• Must be a US Citizen with an active DoD Secret Clearance, at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Must have the ability to obtain Top Secret clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) approval within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs.
• 5 years of experience developing a 6 DOF flight dynamics model for a hypersonic vehicle
• 5 years of experience developing autopilot algorithms for hypersonic vehicles
• 5 years of experience evaluating impacts of control effectors on guidance and control (latency, bandwidth, etc.)
• 5 years of experience designing, analyzing, and tuning autopilot algorithms for missile, hypersonic, or unmanned aircraft systems.
• 5 years of experience developing targeting and guidance laws for hypersonic vehicles.
• 5 years of experience with MATLAB/Simulink for modeling, simulation, and code generation
• Participation in at least one flight test program (e.g., sounding rocket, missile, UAV)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience evaluating impacts of navigation sensors on guidance and control (latency, frequency, etc.)
• Knowledge of Advanced control theory (state space, optimal, robust, nonlinear, adaptive)
• Knowledge of Flight dynamics of high Mach vehicles (aerodynamics, thermodynamics, propulsion integration)
• Knowledge of Navigation and sensor fusion (INS, GPS, star tracker, lidar)
• Knowledge of Real-time embedded systems and hard real time constraints
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded code (preferably MISRA C compliant)
• Python for data analysis & rapid prototyping
• Use of version control (Git) and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with real-time operating systems
• Experience with hardware in the loop (HIL) and software in the loop (SIL) testbeds
• Use of Monte Carlo, robustness, and performance analysis tools
• Knowledge of test article instrumentation, telemetry, and fault diagnostics
• Familiarity with hypersonic phenomena: shock wave interactions, real gas effects, ablative heating, plasma communication blackout
• Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams (aero, structures, thermal, software)
• Clear communication of technical concepts to non-specialists
• Proven track record of troubleshooting complex real time systems
• Experience in deploying algorithms to software, hardware, and testing.
• Experience designing guidance laws for precision strike, including trajectory shaping to meet impact angle, impact time, and footprint constraints.
• Experience formulating and implementing pierce point / multi segment guidance laws spanning exoatmospheric and endoatmospheric flight regimes.
• Experience developing path shaping guidance for sensor constrained flight (e.g., maintaining required pointing, field of view, and dwell time for onboard seekers or other sensors).
• Experience integrating guidance law design with navigation and control to achieve stringent terminal accuracy and precision impact requirements in contested environments.

As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for our robust benefits package including:

- Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
- 401k
- Educational Assistance
- Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
- Paid Time Off
- Health & Wellness Resources
- Employee Discounts

This position’s standard work schedule is 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.

Primary Level Salary Range: $152,900.00 - $229,300.00
The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.
Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.
Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.