Senior Guidance and Control Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) seeks a Senior Guidance and Control Engineer to develop advanced G&C algorithms and flight software for challenging national security and space missions. You will model vehicle dynamics, design guidance, navigation, and control laws, run high-fidelity simulations, and support hardware-in-the-loop and flight testing. Collaborating with multidisciplinary experts, you will analyze performance, assess robustness, and translate mission needs into implementable designs, while mentoring junior engineers and contributing to innovative research in critical science and technology domains.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for advanced vehicles and systems
• Develop and maintain high-fidelity dynamic models and simulations to evaluate G&C performance
• Integrate G&C algorithms into flight software and support hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Analyze system performance, robustness, and stability under varied mission conditions
• Support flight test planning, data analysis, and post-flight reconstruction
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to translate mission needs into system requirements and designs
• Document designs, analyses, and test results in technical reports and presentations
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical reviews and design decisions

Required Skills

• Guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) design
• Dynamic modeling and simulation (MATLAB/Simulink or similar)
• Classical and modern control theory
• State estimation and filtering (e.g., Kalman filters)
• Flight software integration and real-time implementation
• Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and test automation
• Aerospace vehicle dynamics and kinematics
• Numerical methods and optimization for trajectory design
• Systems engineering and requirements development
• Data analysis, verification, and validation methods