GN&C Hardware Engineer

Location: Houston, TX, US

GN&C Hardware Engineer

Houston, TX

About Intuitive Machines:  
Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With multiple NASA lunar missions in development and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting NASA, our customers, and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.

About the Position:  
The GN&C Hardware Engineer will support the design, development, integration, and test of GN&C flight hardware across all Intuitive Machines programs. This role focuses on sensors, actuators, and associated avionics hardware critical to spacecraft navigation and control performance.

Responsibilities:

• Support the selection, specification, and integration of GN&C flight hardware, including sensors and actuators, across multiple missions.
• Develop hardware requirements andinterfacedefinitions in collaboration with GN&C, avionics, and systems engineering teams.
• Support procurement, vendor technical management, and hardware qualification activities.
• Perform hardware trade studies, performance analyses, and risk assessments.
• Support environmental testing (vibration, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC) and acceptance testing of GN&C hardware.
• Assistwith hardware integration, troubleshooting, and anomaly resolution during assembly, integration, and test (AIT).
• Support GN&C hardware verification and validation activities, including test planning and execution.
• Contribute to hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and integrated system test campaigns
• Generate hardware documentation, including specifications, test procedures, and verification reports.
• Support flight readiness, mission operations preparation, and post-test/post-flight analysis asrequired.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience supporting spacecraft GN&C hardware development, integration, or test.
• Experience working with aerospace flight hardware suppliers and qualification processes.
• Familiarity with GN&C sensors and actuators such as IMUs, star trackers, sun sensors, reaction wheels, and thrusters.
• Experience with camera and lens design parameters (focal length, IFOV, FOV, etc.), camera calibration, and hardware testing.
• Understanding of spacecraft avionics architectures and hardware interfaces.
• Experience supporting environmental and functional testing of flight hardware.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and documentation skills.
• Flexible and adaptable to changing program needs and schedules.

Preferred:

• Experience with integrated optical design and software tools (ZEMAX, etc.), multi-bounce ray-tracing tools (FRED, etc.), camera baffledesignand optimization.
• Experience with camera/optical thermal and radiation testing.
• Experience with principles of optical navigation and/or observational astronomy, including image processing as it pertains to spacecraft navigation.

US EEO Statement:  
Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.