{"id":3021829,"url":"https://alion.io/job/stratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc","title":"Technical Staff, Guidance Navigation and Controls (GNC)","company":{"id":445024,"name":"Stratolaunch","domain":"stratolaunch.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/stratolaunch","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":27,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":80,"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Mojave, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":168450,"max":299210,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":299210},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":15,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Office","optional":false},{"name":"Outlook","optional":false},{"name":"RTOS","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":true},{"name":"Git","optional":true},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":true},{"name":"MBSE","optional":true},{"name":"Multimodal AI","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"Simulink","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-01T22:44:21Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T14:56:42Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":61,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":61},"description":"Stratolaunch is a technology accelerator that engineers operationally realistic testing at Mach 5+. Our air-launched, Talon testbeds are reusable, cost-effective platforms that enable routine access to the hypersonic environment. We deliver flight data critical to validating system performance and achieving rapid technology deployment. Together with our customers, we drive innovations that are imperative to advancing national security.\nStratolaunch is seeking a subject matter expert in Guidance Navigation and Controls (GNC) to join the Technical Staff in Engineering. Members of the Technical Staff at Stratolaunch are the company’s foremost functional area experts, providing company-level technical leadership as they solve today’s execution problems and develop innovative solutions for the future. The successful candidate will have demonstrated leadership capability and a track record applying deep technical expertise in architecture derivation, algorithm development, and hardware implementation to solve practical engineering problems.\nEssential Responsibilities\nProvide company-level technical discipline leadership in GNC spanning theory to hardware\nEnable world class engineering through the creation of technical standards, best practices, and common tool chains in domain(s) of expertise\nSupport program execution by leading teams through and/or participating in high-impact problem solutions (e.g. Failure Review Boards, RCCA, Tiger Teams)\nDevelop and maintain engineering capability roadmaps and lead the realization of those capabilities\nPropose and lead Internal Research and Development projects to generate intellectual property and enable future business success\nSupport white papers, proposals, and other front end of the business efforts\nEngage in in mentoring and developing more junior colleagues\nSupport recruiting and hiring activities\nQualifications and Skills\nTo perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential responsibility satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.\nRequired Qualifications\nIn-depth expertise and experience in deriving and implementing GNC architectures\nDemonstrated ability as a technical leader\nDemonstrated ability applying technical expertise to solve high-impact problems\nExcellent verbal and written communication skills: Capable of conveying complex technical information to diverse audiences\nFamiliarity with relevant industry and military standards and regulatory specifications\nExperience proposing and leading IRAD projects\nAbility to interact with customers and/or external stakeholders\nDemonstrated experience applying analytical and critical thinking skills to solve multi-disciplinary, open-ended engineering problems\nAbility to work independently in a dynamic environment to achieve business goals\nUS Citizen with the ability to obtain a DOW security clearance\nExperience with embedded systems and RTOS / FPGA implementation of algorithms\nAbility to derive GNC requirements based on vehicle constraints and mission objectives\nAbility to support system sizing and trade study activities based upon mission objectives\nFamiliarity with estimation & data fusion architecture theory and application\nFamiliarity with theory and hardware for air vehicle navigation (GPS, TERCOM, Magnetic)\nFamiliarity with autopilot architecture theory and application\nAbility to objectively assess multidisciplinary data utilized in development of GNC algorithms\nExperience utilizing flight test data to quantitatively reduce uncertainties and update models\nStrong first principles in flight dynamics, propulsion, controls, and estimation techniques\nRequired Computer Skills\nMS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)\nPreferred Qualifications\nWorking knowledge of systems engineering principles and best practices, especially relating to requirements verification through test and MBSE\nExperience owning and implementing technical roadmaps\nExperience supporting hypersonic vehicle development programs culminating in flight testing\nExperience developing GNC architectures for high supersonic or hypersonic systems\nAbility to aid in HWIL development across both hardware and software domains\nExperience working on high speed airbreathing system with hysteretic, multi-modal behavior\nExperience developing high performance extensible interfaces both in hardware and software\nFamiliarity with less common navigation aiding signals and approaches (SoOP, SLAM, Celestial)\nExperience utilizing adjoint methods to analytically derive requirements\nFamiliarity with control system margins (gain, phase, vector) and performance (time const, undershoot, overshoot) metrics and how to appropriately analyze and optimize\nFamiliarity with direct, indirect, and heuristic optimization methods and SOTA algorithms\nExperience with requirements and approaches for safety critical software and algorithms\nFamiliarity with and ability to adapt to industry standard version control and programming languages and toolchains (Git, C++, MATLAB/Simulink, Python, etc.).\nActive DOW security clearance\nEducation and Experience\nPrinciple ($147,667-$262,294): Bachelor’s degree, Master’s or Doctoral degree (graduate degree preferred) in related discipline from an accredited institution and 15+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience\nSenior Principal ($168,450-$299,210): Bachelor’s degree, Master’s or Doctoral degree (graduate degree preferred) in related discipline from an accredited institution and 20+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience\nSpecial remarks regarding work environment, if applicable\nPosition based in Mojave, CA. Consideration for hybrid (partial remote/on-site work) work arrangements for well-qualified candidates may be provided.\n9/80 schedule\nBase salary and leveling are established on a case-by-case basis. We consider several factors to ensure a competitive offer, including your location, educational background, and a comprehensive assessment of the skills and experience demonstrated during your interviews.\nBenefits and our location(s) : \nHealthcare (medical, dental, vision, prescription drugs)\nPaid Maternity and Parental Leave\n50% company match per contributed dollar into 401(k) savings plan, up to $11,500\nTuition reimbursement\nThis position may involve the operation of company vehicles as part of assigned duties.\nMojave Air & Spaceport is located just outside of Lancaster/Palmdale and is only 95 miles north of Los Angeles. The area offers both affordability and central access to a variety of California's best attractions and landmarks. \nNot much for the outdoors and prefer the city life? You’re within a half day’s drive or less of Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and San Francisco where you can find a variety of live entertainment, museums, tours, and historical sight-seeing. Theme parks are in abundance, with Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland, and Knotts Berry Farm ready to meet the needs of rollercoaster thrill seekers. \nFood and drink fanatics are in a haven of delectable choices. Wine aficionados will also find easy access to some of the state’s best vino in Paso Robles, Santa Ynez, and even more locally in Tehachapi and Agua Dulce. Beer fanatics will find some of the best West Coast IPAs at Bravery and Lucky Luke’s in Lancaster. Any food option you crave is covered, and we always recommend the authentic and fresh Mexican food that you won’t find anywhere else in the United States.\nStratolaunch is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at our company. We encourage people from all walks of life to apply, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. Our management team does not tolerate discrimination or harassment at any point during our employees’ and applicants’ time with us, especially with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment. For purposes of transparency, U.S. Citizenship may be required for some positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.\nEqual Employment Opportunity is the Law :\nhttps://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf","description_format":"text","description_chars":8552,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":15,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space Services","Defense Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-21T18:01:30Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":50,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.839,"p_room":0.6,"age_days":61,"expected_fill_days":80,"reasons":["conf:3","win:late","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":299210,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/stratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/stratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-02T16:46:26Z","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":23381,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-03T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"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":445024},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=445024"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"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%2Fstratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"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%2Fstratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc"},{"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/stratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstratolaunch-technical-staff-guidance-navigation-and-controls-gnc"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3021829}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"stratolaunch.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3021829},"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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