Guidance Navigation & Controls (GNC) Engineer (Principal / Sr Principal)

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: SAP

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Please note that this opportunity is contingent on program funding. Start dates are determined after funding confirmation.

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems sector is hiring a Principal or Senior Principal Guidance Navigation and Controls (GNC) Engineer to join our Vehicle Engineering team of qualified, diverse individuals in Melbourne, Florida. 

Responsibilities may include:

• Design, develop, implement, verify, and test algorithms, software, and simulation tools to perform GNC of manned aircraft

• Develop control laws to meet air vehicle performance, flying qualities and stability margin requirements, both on-ground and in-flight

• Develop system and software requirements for GNC features and support requirement verification through test procedure development, lab testing and reporting

• Design pilot relief autopilot and associated logic functions

• Develop air vehicle system linear and non-linear dynamic simulation models and integrate models into software and hardware-in-the-loop simulation environments

• Define and execute performance and flying qualities analysis

• Support pilot-in-the-loop simulation handling qualities testing

• Analyze air vehicle flight test data and support flight test activities

• Utilize excellent communication skills to report program milestones, technical approaches, and findings to GNC as well as program management

This role can be filled as a Principal Engineer (level 3) or Sr Principal Engineer (level 4) depending on the qualifications below.

Basic Qualifications:

• Principal Engineer Level: Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 5 years of relevant experience; OR Master of Science (MS) degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of relevant engineering and/or lab experience

• Sr. Principal Engineer Level: Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 8 years of relevant experience; OR Master of Science (MS) in a STEM discipline and 6 years of relevant experience or PhD with 4 years of relevant engineering and/or lab experience

• Knowledge of fixed-wing aircraft flight dynamics

• Experience using linear control principles and tools to design feedback control systems

• Experience analyzing non-linear simulations of aircraft closed-loop dynamics

• Experience using MATLAB to create, process, analyze, and visually represent data

• Must have an active DoD Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation)

• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance prior to the commencement of employment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing control laws for piloted fixed-wing aircraft, performing handling qualities analyses, and pilot-in-loop evaluations

• Experience with control design and analysis processes including the development of the control laws, and hardware/software requirements for air vehicles

• Experience designing, developing, and implementing flight software algorithms to support GNC functions for air vehicles

• Experience designing, developing, and implementing simulation software to test and verify mission requirements for air vehicles

• Experience with navigation functions including the statistical processing of measured data points and their substitution into algorithms simulating physical reality

• Experience with guidance functions including the formulation of specific equations to achieve a desired position, orientation, or trajectory

• Working knowledge of MIL-STD-1797 flying qualities requirements

• Experience creating and executing requirement verification test procedures

• Experience using Simulink to model dynamic systems

• C/C++ and/or Python Programming Skills

Primary Level Salary Range: $92,600.00 - $139,000.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $114,900.00 - $172,300.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.