Senior GNC Engineer

Location: Glasgow

Department: Engineering

As a GNC/AOCS Engineer at Spire, you will operate as part of a technical team who maintains responsibility across the full lifecycle of its engineering products. The GNC team interfaces directly with many engineering groups to conduct R&D, design, manufacturing, and operations activities, ultimately ensuring all current and future spacecraft systems satisfy their mission. 

Ideal candidates will embrace the commercialization of nanosatellite systems and adapt to low-cost, fast-paced systems design, development, and implementation methodologies that set Spire apart from our competition. In this fast-paced environment, the design to launch cycle is measured in weeks and months, not years!

What You’ll Do:

• Technical ownership of current and future spacecraft attitude and orbit control software and hardware.
• Design, model, analyze, integrate and operate attitude determination/estimation systems for small spacecraft.
• Develop and utilize spacecraft dynamics and control simulations, including 'hardware-in-the-loop'.
• Design, evaluate, select, qualify and implement flight sensors, including magnetometers, sun sensors, inertial measurement devices, infrared sensors, and/or star trackers.
• Design, evaluate, select, qualify and implement flight actuators, including magnetic torque elements, reaction wheels, and propulsion systems.
• Be hands-on in laboratory and manufacturing environments during testing, integration, and qualification of flight systems.
• Provide support and analysis for on-orbit operations of spacecraft attitude determination and control systems.
• Work with external contractors, manufacturers, and internal manufacturing staff to improve reliability, yield, performance, and cost of flight systems.

Key Skills:

• Extensive experience with a solid foundation in spacecraft attitude dynamics and control algorithms, with emphasis on practical application of knowledge.
• Have experience designing and/or implementing Kalman filters for attitude estimation.
• Experience with flight sensors for spacecraft attitude determination/estimation.
• Experience developing software using C/Python.
• Have experience or familiarity with the Linux development environment.
• Have experience working with external engineering contractors.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience writing flight software.
• Experience with C or C++ development for embedded systems.
• Experience with spacecraft design.
• Experience with spacecraft assembly, integration, and testing.
• Experience with spacecraft operations and maintenance.
• Experience identifying and resolving system anomalies.
• Experience creating and maintaining integration and test campaigns for attitude determination and control systems, including hardware and software.
  
  

Spire operates a hybrid work model, and this position will require you to work a minimum of three days per week in the office.
Access to US export-controlled software and/or technology may be required for this role. If needed, Spire will arrange the necessary licenses—this is not something candidates need to have before applying. #LI-MI1