GN&C Engineer (Huntsville, AL)

Jacobs Engineering is accepting applications for a GN&C Engineer in Huntsville, AL. Challenging Today. Reinventing Tomorrow.

We’re invested in you and your success. Everything we do is more than just a project. It’s our challenge as human beings, too. That’s why we bring a thoughtful and collaborative approach to every one of our partnerships.

At Jacobs, we challenge the status quo and redefine how to solve the world’s greatest challenges, transforming big ideas into intelligent solutions for a more connected, sustainable world.

Design your career with a company that inspires and empowers you to deliver your best work so you can evolve, grow and succeed – today and into tomorrow 

Your Impact:

Jacobs leads the global professional services sector delivering solutions for a more connected, sustainable world.  With $15.0 billion in combined revenue and a talent force more than 77,000 strong, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of services including scientific, technical, professional, construction- and program-management for business, industrial, commercial, government and infrastructure sectors. For more information, visit www.jacobs.com

Jacobs Space Exploration Group (JSEG) is comprised of 10 companies and is located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL (ranked #1 in Best Places to Live by U.S. News 2022-23). JSEG has been a primary contractor for NASA since 1989 and supports marquee NASA programs, including the Space Launch System, International Space Station, space optics fabrication, earth and space sciences and advanced propulsion system development. As a partner in NASA’s next generation of space exploration, our jobs are literally history in the making.

Position Description:

The Jacobs Space Exploration Group (JSEG) Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) team is a high performing group executing challenging tasks to design and integrate GN&C systems for projects ranging from CubeSats, to Mars sample return, to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).

We are searching for highly qualified candidates to support the SLS program and/or the Mars Ascent Vehicle in the Control Systems Design and Analysis branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.  Successful candidates will serve as a Senior Dynamics, Controls, Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Engineer. This exciting work will serve as a critical step in sending humans back to the Moon, Mars and beyond!

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Serve as the control systems expert representing MSFC in project/program interface meetings with other MSFC Branches, other NASA centers, and contractors developing the systems
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentoring to project/program team members
• Develop, model, simulate, and analyze launch vehicle and spacecraft dynamics (including flexible body, slosh, actuators, etc.), control systems, performance, and stability in both the frequency and time domains with varying levels of fidelity
• Conduct trades studies and/or sensitivity analyses related to launch vehicles and spacecraft
• Create, edit, and debug software written in C/C++, Matlab, Simulink, and/or other languages
• Develop, modify, maintain, and improve software simulations, tools, and scripts
• Support the design, integration, analysis, and documentation of GN&C products
• Prepare and present technical reports and/or briefings including visualization of results
• Create and review engineering and software documentation

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Qualifications: 

A degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related field from an ABET accredited institution is required. Typical experience requirements are the equivalent of a PhD with at least 19 years of experience, a Masters with at least 23 years of experience, or BS with at least 25 years of experience.

Required skills/experience:

• Proficiency modeling, simulating, analyzing, and verifying/validating the performance of launch vehicles, missiles, hypersonic vehicles, sounding rockets, or spacecraft.
• Proficiency in design, development, modeling, simulation, and analysis of flight/attitude control systems using classical and modern control techniques. i.e. autopilot
• Proficiency analyzing system performance in the time and frequency domain including Nichols, Bode, Nyquist, Root Locus, etc. using parametric, Monte Carlo, and statistical techniques
• Ability to analyze the impacts of using thrust vector control actuators (hydraulic and/or electromechanical) or other feedback-controlled effectors including structural interactions.
• Programming in Matlab, Simulink, and/or C/C++
• Ability to utilize and work with coordinate frames, transformations, and quaternions
• Familiarity with and an understanding of trajectory and orbital dynamics
• Must be detail oriented, self-motivated, and can work both independently and collaboratively
• Experience with providing technical presentations to a broad array of audiences
• Strong written and oral communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills

Desired skills/experience:

• Ability to derive nonlinear and linear state equations related to dynamical systems, spacecraft, and launch vehicles and develop closed form solutions to those where appropriate
• Experience performing control system optimization(s)
• Modeling of aerodynamics, slosh, pogo, and other dynamics impacting vehicle stability.
• Control system design/analysis using Reaction Control Systems (thrusters) or other action systems using phase plane control algorithms.
• Familiarity with software development, verification, and validation.
• Programming in Python, or other languages
• Experience working with guidance algorithms
• Experience with modeling, simulating, and analyzing navigation systems including, but not limited to, gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial measurement units, GPS, star trackers, etc.

The Jacobs Space Exploration Group (JSEG) offers a partnership in which you can grow personally and professionally within a framework of strong leadership, competitive compensation, and rewarding career paths. Come join our team on the Engineering Services and Science Capability Augmentation (ESSCA) contract whose work is destined to have a long-range effect on future generations!

Essential Functions

Work Environment: 

Office environment. Requires ability to provide clear, concise, accurate and timely communication, both verbally and in writing (100%). Requires ability to interact professionally with co-workers, management, and client (100%). Requires travel in the domestic USA (0 to 20%).

Physical Requirements:

Requires sitting for extended periods of time in meetings with peers, management, and with our client at NASA facilities to discuss technical issues. Also, requires sitting for extended periods of time at a desk to write reports and perform engineering tasks. Requires ability to use stairs or elevators for access between floors and multiple buildings at NASA and Jacobs facilities.

Equipment and Machines: 

Requires ability to operate a personal computer, a telephone, fax machine, copier, calculator, and other general office equipment (100%).

Attendance: 

Normal workday 7:30 – 4:30, Monday thru Friday.  Minimal overtime may be required (10%) to meet schedule milestones and to support technical demands of the job. Regular attendance is a necessity, and adequate arrangements for delegating duties during absences are required.

Other Essential Functions:

The ability to work independently with minimal supervision, and to make rational decisions, and to exercise good judgment is essential (100%). Grooming and dress must be appropriate for the position and must not impose a safety risk/hazard to the employee or others.

Proof of U.S. Citizenship is required.

To learn more and apply for this position, click here.

Learn more about Jacobs Engineering here.