Sr. GNC Engineer

About the Company

Blue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, is solving some of the toughest challenges in space. Our components and bus platforms have completed missions ranging from very-low Earth orbits to lunar and interplanetary journeys at a fraction of the cost of traditional space systems. We support premier defense, commercial and civil organizations including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, MIT Lincoln Lab, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Colorado and more.

Join our innovative and dynamic company as we build, test and operate the small spacecraft of the future.

Sr. GNC Engineer has full GNC subsystem responsibility for multiple space missions, including all program phases from new business development through on‑orbit operations. The Sr. GNC Engineer will lead development of new and improved capabilities, features, and infrastructure of the GNC subsystem.

Title: Sr. Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer

Position Type: Full Time

Pay Range: $100,000 - $185,000 (Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.)

Location: Lafayette, CO

• Employer sponsored health, dental, and vision benefits effective the first of the month following hire date
• Life insurance
• 401k (matching 4% with a minimum 5% contribution)
• Generous PTO (3 weeks of vacation + 3 floating holidays, 2 weeks of sick time, 7 paid holidays throughout the year) and parental leave

• Design, analyze, test, and deploy GN&C subsystems for small spacecraft ranging from Cube Sat (10 cm square) to ESPA-class (24 x 28 x 38 inches), deployed in LEO, GEO, lunar, deep space, and other orbits
• Develop new GN&C technologies to support customer needs and BCT strategic goals
• Lead continued evolution of certain GN&C processes and tools/infrastructure
• Lead certain GN&C hardware selection and performance details
• Participate in all mission phases including new business development, design reviews, software and hardware‑level test, on‑orbit commissioning and operations
• Provide guidance and mentoring to younger engineers
• May include personnel management responsibilities
• Other responsibilities as assigned

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or related Engineering discipline and at least 7 years of relevant experience.
• Knowledge of systems integration and testing experience with MATLAB/Simulink
• Ability to rapidly work with minimal supervision on projects involving both small and large engineering teams.
• Experience with running 6‑DOF simulation
• Must be able to work in a highly collaborative, fast‑paced environment with emphasis on rapid prototyping and fielding of capabilities.
• Experience with configuration management and issue tracking tools preferred
• Capability to independently develop new GN&C technology
• Comprehensive knowledge of spacecraft GN&C, ranging from orbital mechanics, spacecraft sensors and actuators, and attitude dynamics and controls
• Knowledge of spacecraft GN&C testing best practices
• Experience with C and Ruby languages preferred
• Experience with Model Based Design and auto‑coding preferred
• Practical experience working with orbital vehicles or autonomous systems, embedded software, and algorithmic design
• Previous experience with small satellites, especially small satellite GN&C preferred
• Experience with simulator/hardware test development and execution, as well as mission operations is a plus
• Related technical experience may be considered in lieu of education

This job operates in a professional office environment, but in a manufacturing company. This role uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, scanners, filing cabinets and fax machines. BCT anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require BCT to shorten or extend the application window.

The physical demands described here are…