Senior GNC Engineer

About the role

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.

The 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.

With 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.

The Role

As a Senior GNC engineer, you will be a core driver of the overall spacecraft GNC architecture. You will execute detailed trade studies to find new and novel ways to implement the spacecraft's orbital guidance, orbital control, and attitude and orbit estimation systems.

In the first 3 months, you will support the development/improvement of the MEO navigation, taking lessons learned from the Gravitas mission and applying them to the baseline GNC stack. In the first 6 months you will support the development of new and novel navigation approaches to support future programs - specifically solving navigation for GEO, cis lunar, and interplanetary.

In parallel you will support the development of the in-house trajectory design scheme and associated analysis workflow. As we learn more about our system, this will lead to updates to both the GNC stack and the K2 6-DOF simulation. The expectation is that all GNC team members commit code to the 6-DOF sim as well as owning a portion of the GNC flight software.

In the first year, you will support launch and on orbit operations of the Trinity mission - the stacked launch of 3 K2 Mega spacecraft. In parallel, you will continue to support improvements, closing the loop on the design, build, test, fly lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Work with other engineering leads to develop and validate a novel high level vehicle architecture
• Develop novel algorithms for precise navigation in LEO, MEO, GEO, cis lunar, and interplanetary space.
• Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies. This includes mission design, controls analysis, and 6-DOF simulation development.
• Contribute to building the GNC organization by recruiting, hiring, and mentoring other engineers

Qualifications

• Experience with implementing estimation algorithms on for flight software and ground software, specifically Kalman Filters, Extended Kalman Filters, and Unscented Kalman Filters
• Experience performing Monte Carlo based analyses and covariance analysis
• Experience with verification and validation of GNC flight software in an integrated environment, leveraging 6-DOF simulation and HITL testing.
• Experience with GNC sensor sizing, selection, and system design
• Experience with Python, Julia, C/C++, Rust, or Matlab for algorithm development, implementation, and simulation

Nice to Have

• Experience with system identification, leveraging on-orbit data
• Experience with early-stage spacecraft conceptual design, i.e. "clean sheet" design work
• Breadth in control algorithm development
• Experience with reaction wheel, control moment gyroscope, or thruster sizing and algorithm implementation
• Experience with trajectory analysis, modeling, optimization, and mission design for GEO, cislunar, interplanetary missions

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $160,000 - $235,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If 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!

Export Compliance

As 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."

The 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.