Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer

Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer

Join to apply for the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer at Wardstone (YC F25)

$/yr - $/yr

• Design guidance laws for midcourse and terminal homing under high‑speed, non‑linear dynamics.
• Implement proportional navigation, augmented PN, pursuit/lead guidance, and/or optimal control methods.
• Develop intercept prediction algorithms using sensed tracking and state estimation inputs.

• Design and tune control loops for aerodynamic surfaces, thrust vectoring, or impulse‑based actuators.
• Model actuator bandwidth, latency, saturation, and uncertainties.
• Implement robust control strategies for high‑G, high‑rate maneuvers.

• Implement EKFs/UKFs for fusing IR sensor data, IMU, GPS, and onboard timing signals.
• Build prediction and filtering pipelines that operate reliably under noise, jitter, and thermal effects.
• Develop relative navigation and target‑state estimation algorithms.

• Build and maintain high‑fidelity 6
  
  DOF simulations of interceptor dynamics.
• Integrate aerodynamic models (> Mach
  1), control response, propulsion events, and sensor models.
• Run Monte Carlo and worst‑case analyses to drive design decisions.

• Develop GNC software that runs on embedded hardware with hard real‑time constraints.
• Conduct hardware‑in‑the‑loop tests with scene generators and real sensors.
• Support ground‑based intercept tests, including flight software tuning, data collection, and analysis.

• Influence the Vehicle Design through cont rollability requirements.
• Work with perception engineers to integrate vision‑based tracking into guidance algorithms.
• Work with propulsion engineers on control authority, ΔV budgets, and impulse timing.
• Work with embedded engineers to implement deterministic and reliable real‑time GNC pipelines.

• B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Controls, or similar.
• Deep understanding of classical and modern control theory.
• Experience building 6
  
  DOF flight simulations (MATLAB, Simulink, Python, C++).
• Strong background in state estimation, nonlinear dynamics, filtering, or guidance algorithms.
• Hands‑on experience tuning controllers for UAVs, rockets, missiles, or autonomous systems.
• Familiarity with coordinate frames, quaternion math, and navigation transformations.
• US CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED

• Experience with high‑speed interceptors, hypersonics, or missile guidance.
• Familiarity with aerodynamics, actuator modeling, or impulse‑based control.
• Experience with optimal control (MPC, LQR variants, differential games).
• Experience with embedded real‑time systems, RTOS, or high‑rate control loops.
• Experience integrating perception (IR/EO, CV algorithms) into closed‑loop guidance.
• Experience with MIL‑STD flight hardware, environmental testing, or flight qualification.