Head of Guidance, Navigation, and Control

Location: Torrance, CA

Department: Engineering

Company Overview

Fortastra designs and delivers resilient, high-performance spacecraft that safeguard critical orbital assets and ensure freedom of action in space. We integrate advanced autonomy, sensing, and control into systems engineered for reliability, speed, and scale.
Our culture values simplicity, accountability, and disciplined execution. We expect leaders to think systemically, act decisively, and take ownership of mission outcomes. Aggressive innovation. Disciplined execution. Strength among the stars.

Team / Department

You will lead Fortastra’s Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) function within the Engineering Division, owning the architecture, performance, and delivery of flight-critical control systems across our autonomous spacecraft portfolio.

The Role

Fortastra is seeking a Head of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) to define and lead the development of flight-critical algorithms enabling autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations (RPO), and precision maneuvering in contested environments. This is a technical leadership role, not a pure management position. You will set the technical direction for GN&C across the company, own system-level performance, and build and lead a team capable of delivering mission-critical autonomy from concept through flight. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in control theory, estimation, and orbital mechanics, combined with a track record of delivering flight-proven systems and leading high-performing engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end GN&C architecture across all spacecraft programs, ensuring performance, robustness, and mission alignment
• Define and drive technical strategy and roadmap for autonomy-enabled control systems in dynamic and contested environments
• Lead the design, implementation, and validation of GNC algorithms for RPO, formation flying, and precision maneuvering
• Oversee development of ADCS, orbit determination, and state estimation systems with flight-level reliability
• Establish and enforce engineering standards, modeling practices, and verification methodologies across the GN&C domain
• Drive integration of GN&C with flight software, autonomy, avionics, and mission systems
• Own simulation, Monte Carlo analysis, and performance validation under uncertainty, off-nominal conditions, and failure scenarios
• Lead hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and flight test campaigns, ensuring readiness for operational deployment
• Recruit, mentor, and develop a high-caliber GN&C team, setting a high bar for technical excellence and accountability
• Act as the technical authority for GN&C, supporting executive decisions, customer engagements, and program reviews

Qualifications and Skills

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related field
• 10+ years of experience in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or autonomous system GN&C
• Demonstrated ownership of flight-critical GN&C systems from concept through on-orbit operations
• Deep expertise in control systems, nonlinear dynamics, and state estimation (e.g., Kalman filtering)
• Strong experience with relative motion, orbital mechanics, and RPO or formation flying missions
• Proven ability to lead technical teams and deliver complex systems under schedule and performance constraints
• Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink, Python, and C/C++
• Experience integrating algorithms into embedded flight software and HIL environments
• Strong systems engineering mindset with the ability to operate across disciplines

Requirements

• On-site role (no remote or hybrid arrangements)
• U.S. Citizenship required
• Ability to obtain or hold an active TS/SCI clearance

Why Fortastra

Join a small, high-impact team building the next generation of autonomous orbital control systems for national security space. At Fortastra, leaders own outcomes from first principles through flight and directly shape the future of resilient, mission-critical spacecraft autonomy.