Principal Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer for Space Applications

Overview

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 1,800 employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross-fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation. For more information about Draper, visit www.draper.com.

Our work is very important to us, but so is our life outside of work. Draper supports many programs to improve work-life balance including workplace flexibility, employee clubs ranging from photography to yoga, health and finance workshops, off site social events and discounts to local museums and cultural activities. If this specific job opportunity and the chance to work at a nationally renowned R&D innovation company appeals to you, apply now www.draper.com/careers.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Draper is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer.   We understand the value of diversity and its impact on a high-performance culture.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.   

Draper is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, please contact hr@draper.com.

Responsibilities

This position will either be located at the Draper field site office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) near Houston, TX or at Draper’s main office in Cambridge, MA.  The applicant will join a team of highly motivated Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) Engineers in the design, development, test, implementation and operation of spacecraft GNC systems for Earth, Moon, and Mars Missions.  We seek applicants who will fit well in this dynamic team, can serve as subject matter experts for a variety of GNC disciplines, while designing challenging GNC systems and developing GNC technologies crucial to Human Exploration missions with our JSC Customer - as well as with customers who value a presence at JSC.

The applicant will be technically involved in various stages in the life cycle of the project including: 

• Mission design & architecture trades
• System design & requirement analyses
• GNC algorithms and software development
• GNC system integration & test

Qualifications

The applicant should have strong domain experience in one or more of the following technical disciplines: 

• Guidance and Targeting
• Navigation
• Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control Systems

With specialties in one or more of the following: 

• Project leadership
• Linear covariance analysis
• Rendezvous and prox-ops design and analysis
• Absolute and relative navigation using a variety of sensors
• Sensor characterization and performance analysis
• Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) systems
• Flight control stability and robustness analysis
• Manual controls for space vehicles

Qualifications should include:

• MS degree or higher in a relevant technical field of study, plus at least 10 years applicable experience.
• Familiarity with several of the following languages and tools: C/C , Python, MATLAB, Simulink, Git. 
• Experience with FSW development and test – preferably in graphical development environments. 
• 6-DOF spacecraft dynamics modeling and simulation.

Security Requirement:    

• Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.