Senior GNC Engineer II- Mission Formulation

GNC ENGINEER II/ SENIOR GNC ENGINEER I - MISSION FORMULATION

Based out of Rocket Lab’s site in Littleton, CO, the Senior GNC Engineer I/II - Mission Formulation is responsible for Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) design, modeling, analyses, and testing for Rocket Lab launches and missions. You'll play an integral part of Rocket Lab’s Global Launch Services (GLS) Mission ...

As part of the Mission Formulation team, you'll be responsible for conducting trades studies, preliminary and final mission analyses, and definition and implementation of detailed designs for Rocket Lab’s launch programs. This team is also primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of launches and ...

Based out of Rocket Lab’s site in Littleton, CO, the Senior GNC Engineer I/II - Mission Formulation is responsible for Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) design, modeling, analyses, and testing for Rocket Lab launches and missions. You'll play an integral part of Rocket Lab’s Global Launch Services (GLS) Mission Formulation Team, which works closely with other Engineering teams and Production to bring new launch and mission concepts to life. 
As part of the Mission Formulation team, you'll be responsible for conducting trades studies, preliminary and final mission analyses, and definition and implementation of detailed designs for Rocket Lab’s launch programs. This team is also primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of launches and missions for classified missions on HASTE and Electron launch vehicles. 
Success in this position will be measured by the value of the knowledge and experience in launch vehicle design and mission experience that you bring into this role, your ability to contribute to projects without supervision, successful collaboration with other teams across Rocket Lab, and the skillful prioritization of competing engineering projects across the group. 
GNC contact to Business Development for proposals and mission definition 
Launch and mission operational concept development 
Orbital and suborbital trajectory design and analysis 
Work with external stakeholders and customers for mission-specific requirements engineering 
Document proposed GNC solutions and participate in design reviews with customers 
Support hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing to verify trajectories, GNC, and flight code performance 
Conduct Monte Carlo simulation analyses to define and verify launch and mission operations 
Develop and support release of flight code for pre-launch ground testing, launch, and mission operations 
Develop tools and processes for automating common GNC modelling and analysis tasks 

Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of industry experience in GNC/ADCS
Understanding of orbital mechanics and/ or closed-loop control systems, preferably launch vehicles
Experience with trajectory optimization
Proven experience developing real-time control and/or estimation algorithms in autonomous vehicles, preferably launch vehicles
Active Secret security clearance OR Ability to obtain and maintain one
Active TS/SCI clearance
Experience with requirements assessments and interface control document generation
Experience with git version control.
3+ years’ experience in modelling, simulation and/or control of dynamics systems, particularly rigid bodies
3+ years’ experience with Python development
3+ years’ experience with data analysis using MATLAB and/or SciPy
Experience developing in C/C++
Experience with POST, ASTOS, TAOS or similar mission analysis, trajectory optimization, vehicle design and simulation tools 
Strong communication skills, with the ability to build strong working relationships
Creative, analytical, and good at problem solving
Ability to work on own initiative and to plan daily workflow to meet higher level tasks

 

Citizenship of AU / NZ / EU / NATO