GNC Engineer – Neutron Mission Design

Job Description

Rocket Lab is seeking a GNC Engineer to contribute to Neutron's Mission Design & Performance projects. This role involves technical expertise, prioritization, organization, and stakeholder communication. The GNC Engineer will be responsible for trajectory optimization, tracking and validating customer requirements, and mission definition. This includes planning maneuvers, vehicle sequencing, ground station contacts, and observation passes while respecting all vehicle capability constraints. The engineer will also conduct Monte-Carlo analysis, support day-of-launch operations, and perform post-flight data analysis.Rocket Lab offers opportunity to work on cutting edge space technology and advance your career.What this role involves:

• Mission design and trajectory optimization
• Performance analysis for business development
• Embedded GNC algorithms development
• Simulation including hardware and physics modeling
• Interacting with all teams to inform vehicle design trades
• Day-of-launch operations and post-flight data analysis

Requirements:

• Master’s degree or higher in Aerospace, Mechatronics or related discipline (or equivalent qualification/experience)
• A thorough fundamental understanding of 3DOF rocket dynamics
• A thorough fundamental understanding of orbital mechanics
• Experience with optimization for launch-vehicle or spacecraft missions

Nice to have:

• Experience with GMAT, STK, ASTOS
• Experience with software development in Python or MATLAB
• Experience with software CI pipelines
• Experience in development/implementation of a basic 3DOF propagator for LEO, lunar, or interplanetary trajectories from fundamental equations of motion