Spacecraft GNC Engineer III at Firefly Aerospace

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Dream Big at Firefly

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Life at Firefly

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands-on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Collaboration

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Excellence

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

Our Benefits

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
• 3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Mental health services
• Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

• 12 weeks paid maternity leave
• 4 weeks paid spouse leave
• $20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
• Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

• $10k/year towards trade school or college
• $2k/year for professional development
• Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills

Space for Your Future

• Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
• 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
• Financial planning resources
• $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

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ABOUT

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

As a Spacecraft GNC Engineer at Firefly, you will design, analyze, and operate the GNC systems of operational spacecraft. In this role, you will develop GNC flight and simulation software, perform analyses, and support mission operations while continuing to build breadth across core GNC competencies. This position offers hands-on experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control systems, onboard navigation, sensor and actuator modeling, and real-time mission operations across multiple spacecraft. You will deepen your technical capabilities and refine your desired career trajectory, taking ownership of system elements and software tools as you grow toward a senior GNC role at Firefly.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and validate GNC software to ensure successful spacecraft mission execution
• Tune and configure GNC algorithms for all phases of spacecraft flight
• Perform 6DOF simulation analysis of nominal and dispersed flight profiles
• Develop and maintain simulation models for sensors, actuators, and environmental effects
• Create tools to automate workflows, process simulation and flight data, and generate technical reports
• Conduct stability analysis, sensitivity studies, and hardware-in-the-loop testing of GNC under nominal and off-nominal conditions
• Interface with cross-discipline teams to integrate GNC software with spacecraft hardware
• Serve as a GNC console operator for spacecraft operations and perform post-mission analysis to improve spacecraft models
• Author technical documentation and analysis reports that communicate GNC concepts and results to diverse audiences
• Build proficiency across core GNC competencies while contributing to continuous improvement of GNC processes and tools

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science, or related field
• 4-8 years of professional experience in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control, or related technical discipline
• Advanced knowledge of spacecraft orbital mechanics, spacecraft dynamics, state estimation, attitude dynamics, and sensor modeling
• Experience developing high-fidelity sensor and actuator models
• Proficiency in a specialization of spacecraft GNC: Navigation, Guidance, Controls, Software Development
• Proficiency in hardware-in-the-loop testing and requirement verification for mission-critical systems
• Proficiency with Python for scripting, data analysis, and visualization
• Experience with C++ for real-time or flight-critical applications
• Software engineering expertise with proficiency in development practices including version control, code review, testing, documentation, and CI/CD

Desired

• Advanced degree (master's or PhD) in aerospace engineering or related field with focus on GNC
• Experience supporting spacecraft GNC across development, integration, and mission operations
• Expertise in C++ for embedded systems or real-time applications
• Experience with modern flight software frameworks and real-time operating systems
• Proficiency with CI/CD workflows and automated testing practices
• Experience with Linux development environments and command-line tools
• Exposure to spaceflight mission operations or spacecraft commissioning

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status