Senior GNC Engineer

<div class="content-intro"><p data-renderer-start-pos="41">K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.</p>

<p data-renderer-start-pos="570">The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.</p>

<p data-renderer-start-pos="994">With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.</p></div><p><strong><span data-contrast="none">The Role</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></p>

<p><span data-contrast="none">As a Senior GNC engineer, you will be a core driver of the overall spacecraft GNC architecture. You will execute detailed trade studies to find new and novel ways to implement the spacecraft’s orbital guidance, orbital control, and attitude and orbit estimation systems. In the first 3 months, you will support the development/improvement of the MEO navigation, taking lessons learned from the </span><em><span data-contrast="none">Gravitas</span></em><span data-contrast="none"> mission and applying them to the baseline GNC stack. In the first 6 months you will support the development of new and novel navigation approaches to support future programs – specifically solving navigation for GEO, cis lunar, and interplanetary. In parallel you will support the development of the in-house trajectory design scheme and associated analysis workflow. As we learn more about our system, this will lead to updates to both the GNC stack and the K2 6-DOF simulation. The expectation is that all GNC team members commit code to the 6-DOF sim as well as owning a portion of the GNC flight software. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":240,"335559739":240,"335559740":276}"> </span></p>

<p><span data-contrast="none">In the first year, you will support launch and on orbit operations of the </span><em><span data-contrast="none">Trinity</span></em><span data-contrast="none"> mission – the stacked launch of 3 K2 Mega spacecraft. In parallel, you will continue to support improvements, closing the loop on the design, build, test, fly lifecycle. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></p>

<p><strong><span data-contrast="none">Responsibilities</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></p>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Work with other engineering leads to develop and validate a novel high level vehicle architecture</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Develop novel algorithms for precise navigation in LEO, MEO, GEO, cis lunar, and interplanetary space.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Develop simulation and modeling tools to support vehicle and GNC trade studies. This includes mission design, controls analysis, and 6-DOF simulation development.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Contribute to building the GNC organization by recruiting, hiring, and mentoring other engineers </span><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<p><strong><span data-contrast="none">Qualifications</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></p>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Experience with implementing estimation algorithms on for flight software and ground software, specifically Kalman Filters, Extended Kalman Filters, and Unscented Kalman Filters</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Experience performing Monte Carlo based analyses and covariance analysis</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Experience with verification and validation of GNC flight software in an integrated environment, leveraging 6-DOF simulation and HITL testing.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Experience with GNC sensor sizing, selection, and system design</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol",&q