Fortastra
Head of Guidance, Navigation, and Control
$300K–$345K
Torrance, CA +1 · Director · Full-time · Posted May 12, 2026
- Location
- Torrance, CA
Torrance, California, United States - Experience
- 10+ years in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or autonomous system GN&C.
- Education
- B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- U.S. Citizenship required; ability to obtain or hold an active Top Secret clearance.
About the job
Leads Fortastra’s GN&C technical direction, team, and delivery of flight-critical control systems for autonomous spacecraft missions.
What you'll do
- Own GN&C architecture and lead development and validation of algorithms for rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, and precision maneuvering.
- Oversee system integration, simulation, verification, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and flight test readiness.
- Set technical standards and roadmap, and recruit, mentor, and lead the GN&C team.
What they ask for
- 10+ years of experience in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or autonomous system GN&C.
- Demonstrated ownership of flight-critical GN&C systems from concept through on-orbit operations.
- Expertise in control systems, nonlinear dynamics, state estimation, relative motion, and orbital mechanics; experience with RPO or formation flying missions.
- Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink, Python, and C/C++; U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain or hold an active Top Secret clearance.
Pay
$300,000.00 - $345,000.00 (base salary)
Tools
MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C/C++
AI focus
Develops autonomy-enabled control systems and algorithms for autonomous spacecraft, including rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, and precision maneuvering.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative