Principal GNC Engineer

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

Workplace: On-site, 5 days per week
Location: Simi Valley, CA

The GNC Principal Engineer is the overall technical authority for the Kinetic Air and Missile Defense Division. The GNC PE is responsible for supporting the development, integration, and testing of software and systems used in guidance, navigation, and control. The role involves working in a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary environment to solve complex engineering problems. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in GNC algorithm development, software integration, and testing, along with hands-on experience in missile systems.
The Principal Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer works with our Design team to develop a variety of innovative Defense/Missile Systems for defense and commercial applications. This position will interact with Controls Engineers to allocate requirements and develop architectures to drive simulation models. These development efforts will generally be small focused design teams, which will require engineers to use a range of skills and tools across traditional engineering, computer science, and mathematical disciplines. Because of the nature of the development efforts, the engineer will need to work on a variety of stages of development including requirements definition, concept design, prototyping, detailed design, validation and verification testing.
You will also need to be comfortable with supporting missile tests at remote sites, engaging in various testing and simulation activities to validate and enhance system performance.

Key Job Responsibilities
    • Develop and implement GNC algorithms for missile systems.
    • Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams on software development and integration efforts.
    • Execute testing, data collection, and analysis, including hardware-in-the-loop and multi-functional testing.
    • Work on 6DoF (Six Degrees of Freedom) modeling and simulations for performance validation.
    • Assist in the development and execution of test plans and reports, presenting data to both large and small audiences.
    • Ensure the application of best practices and standards in system design and testing.
    • Supports the development of plans for product IRAD and sustaining projects through proper work decomposition and skills assignment to project work tasks
    • Develops and mentors high-performing engineering teams
    • Partners with functional leaders to drive process improvements throughout the engineering development processes
    • Other duties as assigned
    
Required Qualifications
    • Master Degree or PhD in a Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering discipline (or equivalent).
    • U.S. Citizenship required
    • Existing DoD Secret security clearance required
    • Experience with Defense products and customers, especially in C-UAS products
    • Minimum of 15 years of demonstrated experience in GNC engineering, specifically in missile or aerospace systems
    • Expertise in GNC algorithm development, including guidance, navigation, and autopilot algorithms
    • Experience in an Agile and Waterfall development environment
    • Excellent verbal, presentation, and written communication skills
    • Experience project planning in terms of schedule, budget, and resource estimations
    • Exceptional leadership and management skills, with the ability to develop and communicate a vision that inspires and motivates staff and aligns with the business strategy
    • Ability to build strong relationships within all disciplines within organization
    • Effective influencing and negotiation skills in an environment in which resources may not be under your direct control
    • Experienced and proficient with MS Office applications and other office productivity tools
    • Travel required to domestic US sites - up to 10%
    
Preferred Qualifications
    • Follows standard practices and procedures when analyzing situations or data from which answers can be readily obtained. Completes assigned tasks within schedule and budget
    • Shares ideas and experiences with others, solicits feedback and asks relevant questions
    • Able to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, where small teams share a broad variety of duties
    • Displays strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives
    • Takes ownership and responsibility for current and past work products
    • Is committed to learning from mistakes and driven to improve and enhance performance of oneself, others, and the company
    • Has effective problem-solving, analytical, interpersonal and communication skills
    • Team Player - Focuses on teamwork, collaboration and puts the success of the team above one's own interests
    • Inspires, motivates, and empowers people to deliver organizational goals, while also delivering value back to employees
     
Salary Range
    • $155,000-$170,000
    • The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

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Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.