As a Senior GNC Engineer at Hermeus, you will help develop and deploy the flight control, navigation, and autonomy systems that enable our aircraft to fly safely and perform reliably in demanding real-world environments. This role will focus heavily on flight controls development, controls modeling, state estimation, and autonomy for advanced aircraft applications, including autonomous takeoff and landing.
You will work across simulation, software, hardware, and flight test to build and validate advanced control and estimation capabilities for high-speed aircraft. This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving hard dynamic systems problems, moving quickly from analysis to implementation, and working closely with cross-functional teams to take algorithms from concept through validation and flight.
Responsibilities:
- Develop and improve flight control, guidance, and navigation algorithms for high-speed aircraft
- Design and implement control laws, estimation logic, and sensor fusion strategies for autonomous and piloted flight applications, with an emphasis on autonomous takeoff and landing
- Develop and analyze linear control models and dynamic system representations to support controller design, stability analysis, and performance assessment
- Build and refine high-fidelity models of vehicle dynamics, sensors, actuators, and control system behavior using MATLAB, Simulink, and related simulation tools
- Conduct 6-DOF simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, regression testing, and performance studies to validate system robustness across nominal and off-nominal conditions
- Support software and system integration across flight controls, navigation, avionics, and other vehicle subsystems
- Execute and analyze software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and system integration testing campaigns
- Support flight test planning, real-time test execution, and post-flight data analysis to validate and improve control and estimation performance
- Collaborate closely with avionics, software, test, and vehicle engineering teams to define requirements, interfaces, and system architecture
- Drive technical trade studies for sensors, estimators, control logic, and autonomy-related subsystems
- Contribute to verification strategies, test coverage definition, and system-level performance validation
- Document technical work clearly through reports, test reviews, and design presentations
Basic Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, or a related technical field
- 5+ years of professional experience in GNC, flight controls, autonomy, estimation, robotics, or closely related aerospace systems
- Strong fundamentals in dynamics, linear controls, stability analysis, and modeling and simulation
- Experience developing or integrating flight-critical algorithms for aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, UAVs, or other autonomous systems
- Proficiency in MATLAB, Simulink, Python, C++, or similar technical computing and software development tools
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with flight controls development for autonomous aircraft or other high-performance aerospace systems
- Experience with autonomous takeoff and landing system development, testing, or validation
- Experience with GNSS, INS/IMU, air data systems, and other aircraft navigation sensors
- Practical experience with Kalman filtering techniques, including EKF, UKF, or related estimation methods
- Experience with 6-DOF simulation, control law development, and flight dynamics modeling
- Experience with software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, Monte Carlo testing, and regression-based validation
- Experience supporting flight test, post-flight analysis, and control system tuning
- Ability to solve complex technical problems with a high degree of ownership in a fast-paced development environment
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Passion for building advanced aircraft and enabling a faster pace of flight development
What We Do
Hermeus is a high-speed aircraft manufacturer focused on the rapid design, build, and test of high-Mach and hypersonic aircraft for the national interest. Working directly with the Department of Defense, Hermeus delivers capabilities that will ensure that our nation, and our allies, maintain an asymmetric advantage over any and all potential adversaries. Utilizing an integrated, hardware-rich, iterative development approach to aircraft design and build, Hermeus aims to deliver advanced air power at a pace not seen in the U.S. since the 1950s. Hermeus’ current Quarterhorse Program is actively unlocking unmanned high-speed flight. One program, four aircraft – each purpose-built to unlock a specific technical challenge, advance learnings, and incrementally de-risk critical technology in the pursuit of hypersonic aircraft. Today, Hermeus is building its second Quarterhorse vehicle, Mk 2, after having designed, built, and flight tested its predecessor, Mk 1, in 18 months. Capable of reaching speeds of Mach 3+, Quarterhorse Mk 2 will be the fastest uncrewed military aircraft in service for national defense. The final iteration of Quarterhorse, Mk 4, will be capable of transitioning from turbofan to ramjet mode utilizing a Hermeus-developed turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system to achieve sustained speeds of Mach 5+. Hermeus' approach of build-fly-build lays the groundwork for unlocking hypersonic flight at a pace and cost previously deemed impossible. America needs fast planes fast – and Hermeus is delivering them.
Why Work With Us
We prioritize hardware and people. Cutting-edge technology is only made possible by bringing together a world-class team. At Hermeus, you will be challenged – but also empowered. We encourage calculated risks taking and learning from our mistakes. Iteration is the name of the game.
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