GNC Engineer: Modeling & Simulation Product Lead – GPI (Level 4/5) – Secret

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector is seeking a Guidance Navigation Control Engineer: Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Product Lead – Level 4/5 to join our team in Chandler, AZ. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work.

Our GNC (Guidance, Navigation and Control) Engineers design, develop, implement, verify, and test algorithms and simulation tools that deliver guidance, navigation and control for aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, launch vehicles and related platforms across every mission phase—from powered ascent to interplanetary cruise and orbital insertion.

In this job, you will be responsible for both the GNC technical modeling, simulation, and analysis as well as the Modeling and Simulation product lead responsibilities of IMS planning, team management/support, cross-team coordination, as well as customer-facing communication and facilitation of internal/external working groups.
 

This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.

In this job, you will:

• Design, develop, implement, verify, and test high‑quality software and simulation toolchains for missile flight systems.
• Develop and integrate autopilot and guidance algorithms directly into missile flight code.
• Seamlessly incorporate algorithms into the vehicle’s flight software while collaborating with software and hardware teams.
• Utilize various trajectory‑optimization tools to generate, interpret, and analyze vehicle trajectory results.
• Modify or create new scripts (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Bash) to capture customer requirements and measure vehicle performance.
• Build, validate, and maintain modeling and simulation frameworks for aerospace vehicles and components, ensuring accuracy across operational scenarios.
• Enhance simulation fidelity by integrating advanced modeling techniques to support system analysis and decision‑making.
• Conduct rigorous testing and evaluation of simulation models, identifying and resolving discrepancies between simulated and real‑world performance metrics.
• Gather, post‑process, and analyze large, complex data sets to verify and validate performance results.
• Ensure that simulation outcomes match intended performance metrics and system specifications.
• Document design rationale, test results, and compliance evidence for aerospace standards and program reviews.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams (systems, propulsion, structures, avionics) to integrate GNC solutions into overall vehicle architectures.
• Other duties as assigned

If this job description reads like it was written specifically for you, consider joining our team!

This position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.

This position can be filled at either a  Level 4 or Level 5.

Basic Qualifications for Level 4:

• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 6 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 4 years of professional experience.  Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
• Requires an active U.S. Government Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope
• Proficiency in object‑oriented programming, especially C++, and scripting with Bash, Python, and MATLAB.
• Proficiency in creating and implementing 6-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) simulation models.
• Strong background in designing, developing, implementing, and testing GNC algorithms, simulation models, and control systems.
• Proven experience leading mentoring and training a team engineers.
• Ability to participate in verification and validation processes for aerospace systems.
• Knowledge of Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS).

Basic Qualifications for Level 5:

• Bachelor’s degree with 12 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 10 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 8 years of professional experience.  Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
• Requires an active U.S. Government Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope
• Proficiency in object‑oriented programming, especially C++, and scripting with Bash, Python, and MATLAB.
• Proficiency in creating and implementing 6-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) simulation models.
• Strong background in designing, developing, implementing, and testing GNC algorithms, simulation models, and control systems.
• Proven experience leading mentoring and training a team engineers.
• Ability to participate in verification and validation processes for aerospace systems.
• Knowledge of Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS).

 Preferred Qualifications:  

• Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to support control law design and system optimization.
• Knowledge of launch vehicles, spacecraft control, or related fields in aerospace systems.
• Hands-on experience in missile software development and validation testing.
• Create CI/CD Pipelines – able to automate simulation runs and post processing.
• Experience running 6DOF/3DOF simulations on HPC cluster for modeling vehicle trajectory and performance.
• Experience using job schedulers such as SLURM or PBS.
• Experience with the Atlassian toolset, such as Jira and Confluence.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:

https://www.northropgrumman.com/space

Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site.

Northrop Grumman Total Rewards 

Primary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $184,200.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $152,900.00 - $229,300.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.