{"id":3850920,"url":"https://alion.io/job/k2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer","title":"GNC Engineer - Trajectory Design and Guidance Engineer","company":{"id":171840,"name":"K2 Space","domain":"k2space.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/k2-space","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":202,"ghost_share":0.228,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":82,"computed_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:22Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"junior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Los Angeles, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":120000,"max":200000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":200000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":2,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Julia","optional":false},{"name":"Rust","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-06T00:14:57Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-06","last_verified_at":"2026-11-11T20:00:44Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":5},"description":"K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price - and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.\nThe rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.\nWith multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger - helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.\nThe Role \nYou will be the core driver of the spacecraft’s orbital and guidance systems - including low thrust trajectory optimization and mission planning, while executing detailed trade studies to find new and novel ways to implement these strategies, and supporting business development in mission planning and constellation design. \nIn the first 3 months, you will own and execute the development of the K2 trajectory optimization tooling, standing up the software pipeline to take a trajectory, prove optimality, convert to burn plans, and feed into the K2 ground software for autonomous burn execution. In the first 6 months you will develop the trajectory optimization and mission design capabilities to define how, how fast, and on how much fuel K2 can fly the Mega and Giga spacecraft from LEO to MEO, GTO to cislunar, from launch to a Mars capture orbit. In the first 6 months you will design and implement the core GNC algorithms that fly the spacecraft, with a particular focus on algorithms for on orbit station keeping and low thrust orbit raise. In the first year, you will support on orbit operations of multiple K2 spacecraft flying multiple different K2 developed trajectories. \nResponsibilities \nCollaborate with other engineers to develop a novel high level vehicle mission plan \nDevelop novel algorithms for precise OD and station-keeping of very large structures in earth orbit and beyond \nLeveraging one of the largest Hall Effect Thrusters ever manufactured, design the low thrust trajectory for the vehicle to reach MEO, GEO, Cis-Lunar, and Mars. \nDevelop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies \nShape the future of the GNC team by recruiting, interviewing, and mentoring the engineers \nQualifications \nMaster’s degree or higher in aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field \n2+ years of experience in low-thrust trajectory design \nHands-on work with precise orbit determination \nTrack record implementing orbit guidance and control algorithms on a spacecraft \nMission design expertise for both Earth-centric and interplanetary missions \nProficiency in Python, Julia, C/C++, or Rust for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation \nNice to Have \nEarly-stage spacecraft conceptual design (“clean sheet” design work) \nLow-thrust station-keeping algorithm development \nThruster sizing and algorithm implementation \nContributions to developing a satellite constellation \nOn-orbit satellite operations \n6-DOF simulation development \nCompensation and Benefits: \nBase salary range for this role is $120,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company \nSalary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level \nComprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks \nIf you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!\nIf you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.\nExport Compliance\nAs defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”\nThe person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.\nEqual Opportunity\nK2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5722,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":2,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Life insurance","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-06T03:11:08Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":82,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:early","comp:junior,brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:22Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":200000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/k2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/k2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-11T21:01:32Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":41130,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":171840},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=171840"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fk2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fk2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fk2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/k2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fk2-space-gnc-engineer-trajectory-design-and-guidance-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3850920}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"k2space.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3850920},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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