Demo

GNC Engineer

Judge Group, Inc.
Scottsdale, AZ Contractor
POSTED ON 9/4/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 10/4/2026
Location: Scottsdale, AZ Salary: $60.00 USD Hourly - $90.00 USD Hourly Description:
Senior GNC & Autonomy Engineer
About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) / Autonomy Engineer to lead the development of advanced flight control and autonomy systems for a next-generation small unmanned electric aircraft.

Our team operates in a fast-paced, hands-on environment that values innovation, technical excellence, practicality, and reliability. In this role, you will collaborate closely with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and subject matter experts, contributing to every stage of aircraft development, from concept and system architecture through testing and flight validation.
Required Experience & Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or a related field
  • Minimum of 5 years of experience developing GNC software for embedded systems
  • Proven experience leading the complete development lifecycle of embedded systems, from architecture through deployment
  • Hands-on, cross-functional experience spanning embedded software, electronics, and system integration
  • 5 years of engineering experience in a related industry
  • Experience working in robotics, UAV, aerospace, or autonomous systems environments preferred
Desired Attributes

The ideal candidate is:
  • Innovative, practical, and hands-on
  • A strong analytical problem solver with a multidisciplinary engineering mindset
  • Results-oriented and committed to continuous improvement
  • Capable of balancing technical scope, schedule, and resource constraints
  • Effective in both verbal and written communication
  • Collaborative and able to work effectively across engineering disciplines
  • Self-motivated, adaptable, and driven by technical excellence
Key Responsibilities
  • Lead the adaptation, development, and optimization of onboard flight control systems for a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS)
  • Collaborate with Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Engineering teams to translate system-level objectives into software requirements
  • Partner with aircraft designers to define actuator sizing, placement, and control authority requirements through analysis and testing
  • Design, implement, tune, and validate vehicle control architectures, component control loops, and state estimation algorithms
  • Work with software engineers to develop and integrate 6-DOF Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) simulation environments
  • Collaborate with aerospace engineers to develop and refine high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models
  • Support project planning activities by estimating engineering effort, defining technical tasks, and aligning development activities with project schedules
Core Technical Responsibilities
  • Develop, implement, and tune state estimation algorithms
  • Design, modify, and optimize vehicle-level and subsystem control loops
  • Validate control system performance through simulation, testing, and flight evaluation
  • Develop physics-based models for aircraft dynamics and onboard systems
  • Evaluate, select, and integrate sensors, avionics, and computational hardware
  • Contribute to the roadmap and implementation strategy for GPS-denied navigation and Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) capabilities
Technical Skills
Required
  • Strong understanding of state estimation techniques and tuning methodologies
  • Experience with control system design, analysis, and performance optimization
  • Embedded software development, particularly in C/C , for robotics, aerospace, or UAV applications
  • Experience developing physics-based vehicle and actuator models
  • Basic understanding of avionics systems and low-level hardware interfaces
  • Ability to troubleshoot embedded hardware and avionics issues using schematics, wiring diagrams, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers
  • Strong systems engineering and integration skills
Preferred
  • Experience with Python and/or C#
  • Experience with ArduPilot, PX4, or related open-source flight control platforms
  • Familiarity with autonomous navigation technologies, including VIO and GPS-denied operations
  • Experience with UAV flight testing and validation activities
Work Environment & Requirements
  • Full-time, on-site position in a highly collaborative engineering environment
  • Ability to work closely with multidisciplinary teams throughout the aircraft development lifecycle
Minimum Requirements
  • Bachelor's Degree in a relevant engineering discipline
  • 5 years of engineering experience
  • 5 years of embedded systems development experience


Medical, dental, and vision insurance are available to qualified candidates who meet eligibility requirements.
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This job and many more are available through The Judge Group. Please apply with us today!

Salary : $60 - $90

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