Varda Space
Principal Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer
$219K–$244K
El Segundo, California, United States · Principal · Full-time · Posted May 27, 2026
- Experience
- 10+ years, or PhD with 7+ years of relevant experience.
- Education
- B.S. in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering, physics, or related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a U.S. person: U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual admitted as a refugee or granted asylum.
About the job
Own the full life cycle of spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control development, from design and simulation through integration, testing, and on-orbit and reentry mission operations.
What you'll do
- Design and implement spacecraft attitude control, collision avoidance, rendezvous, burn-planning, and reentry algorithms; perform trajectory and dispersion analyses.
- Develop six-degree-of-freedom simulations and run Monte Carlo analyses to assess vehicle and mission performance.
- Integrate and test GNC hardware and software, monitor on-orbit performance, and coordinate mission operations with external organizations.
What they ask for
- B.S. in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering, physics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of proven experience, or a PhD with 7+ years of relevant experience.
- Demonstrated experience designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace GNC systems.
- Strong C++/Python software and model development skills; understanding of orbital mechanics, simulation, and software development.
Nice to have
- Master's degree in engineering or physics.
- Experience with spacecraft attitude control, GMAT, POST2, Matlab/Simulink, or safety-critical flight testing.
Pay
USD 219,161 - USD 243,513 per year (base salary)
Tools
C++, Python, GMAT, POST2, Matlab/Simulink
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative