Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer
TYPE — FULL TIMELOCATION — Vijayawada, INDIAExperience: 5+ YearsCTC: ₹9–15 LPA
ABOUT THE ROLE
As a Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Engineer, you will lead the development, validation, and deployment of the complete GNC architecture for AnduraX's reusable re-entry vehicle. You will be responsible for designing autonomous flight algorithms covering all mission phases, from high-altitude release and atmospheric glide to parafoil recovery, precision landing, and future orbital re-entry missions. Working closely with Systems Engineering, Aerodynamics, Avionics, Flight Software, Structures, and Test teams, you will develop robust guidance, navigation, estimation, and control algorithms that ensure safe, reliable, and repeatable autonomous flight. You will own the complete algorithm development lifecycle, from mathematical modelling and simulation to hardware integration, flight validation, and post-flight performance analysis. This role demands deep expertise in flight dynamics, estimation, control theory, autonomous systems, and real-world flight testing. You will play a critical role in enabling India's first privately developed reusable re-entry vehicle. This role combines office-based engineering with laboratory, workshop, integration, and field-test activities. Candidates should be comfortable transitioning between analytical work, software development, hardware integration, and outdoor flight operations.
RESPONSIBILITY
Guidance Systems
- Develop guidance algorithms for atmospheric flight, glide, parafoil descent, and precision landing.
- Design trajectory generation and optimization algorithms.
- Develop waypoint navigation and path-following algorithms.
- Implement guidance logic for nominal, abort, contingency, and emergency flight modes.
- Develop wind compensation and energy management algorithms.
- Design flare and terminal landing guidance strategies.
- Support future orbital de-orbit guidance and entry trajectory development.
Navigation & State Estimation
- Develop robust sensor fusion algorithms using IMU, GNSS, magnetometers, barometers, and other onboard sensors.
- Design Extended Kalman Filters (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filters (UKF), and complementary filtering architectures.
- Develop fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) logic.
- Perform sensor characterization, calibration, and error modelling.
- Improve navigation performance under degraded or GPS-denied conditions.
- Develop high-fidelity vehicle state estimation pipelines.
Simulation & Modelling
- Develop and maintain high-fidelity 6-DOF flight simulation environments.
- Integrate aerodynamic, propulsion, sensor, actuator, and environmental models.
- Conduct Monte Carlo analyses and robustness studies.
- Perform sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification.
- Support Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) validation.
- Generate flight performance predictions for mission planning.
Wind Tunnel & Experimental Testing
- Support design and fabrication of aerodynamic test articles.
- Plan and execute wind tunnel testing campaigns.
- Correlate wind tunnel data with CFD predictions.
- Analyze test results and update aerodynamic models.
- Support high-altitude drop tests and flight demonstration campaigns.
- Develop aerodynamic instrumentation plans for prototype vehicles.
Flight Test Operations
- Support mission planning and flight sequence development.
- Participate in vehicle integration and ground testing.
- Monitor real-time telemetry during flight campaigns.
- Perform post-flight trajectory reconstruction and performance analysis.
- Validate simulation models against flight data.
- Recommend improvements based on flight-test observations.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Work closely with Systems Engineering, Aerodynamics, Structures, Avionics, Flight Software, Propulsion, and Test teams.
- Mentor junior GNC engineers and interns.
- Support engineering recruitment and technical interviews.
- Develop GNC standards, documentation, and best practices.
- Contribute to technical reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and FRR.
REQUIREMENTS
Education & Experience
- B.Tech/M.Tech/PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Control Systems, Robotics, Avionics, Mechanical Engineering, or related disciplines.
- 5+ years of experience developing GNC systems for spacecraft, launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, missiles, UAVs, aircraft, or autonomous systems.
Technical Competencies
- Strong understanding of:
- Flight Dynamics
- Guidance Algorithms
- Navigation Systems
- State Estimation
- Sensor Fusion
- Classical & Modern Control Theory
- Nonlinear Dynamics
- Flight Mechanics
- Trajectory Optimization
- Experience developing EKF, UKF, or equivalent estimation algorithms.
- Experience tuning flight control systems on real hardware.
- Experience developing high-fidelity simulation environments.
- Strong understanding of autonomous flight systems.
- Excellent analytical thinking and structured problem-solving ability.
- Strong technical communication and documentation skills.
PREFERRED SKILLS
Experience With
- Experience with:
- Re-entry vehicles
- Entry, Descent & Landing (EDL) systems
- Parafoil guidance and control
- Precision landing systems
- Autonomous aerospace vehicles
- Lifting-body flight vehicles
- High-altitude flight systems
- Flight-test data analysis
- Fault-tolerant GNC architectures
- Mission planning and trajectory optimization
Proficiency In
- Proficiency in:
- MATLAB/Simulink
- Python (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib)
- C/C++
- PX4
- ROS2
- STM32-based flight controllers
- Gazebo, JSBSim, or equivalent simulation environments
Familiarity With
- Familiarity with:
- Flight Software integration
- Aerodynamic modelling
- CFD-GNC coupling
- Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL)
- Software-in-the-Loop (SIL)
- GNSS, MEMS IMUs, FOGs, and navigation sensors
- NASA, ESA, ECSS, or ISRO standards
- Prior experience with Indian or international aerospace programs (ISRO, DRDO, private space tech firms, startups) will be considered an added advantage.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Additional Requirements
- Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment where responsibilities evolve with program needs.
- Comfortable working across multiple engineering disciplines and contributing beyond a narrowly defined role.
- Willingness to travel for flight tests, supplier visits, customer meetings, government reviews, conferences, and technical demonstrations as required.
- Ability to work outdoors during integration campaigns, launch operations, and recovery activities under varying weather conditions.
- Comfortable standing, walking, bending, and working for extended periods during hardware integration and testing activities.
- Ability to safely lift and carry engineering equipment and hardware weighing up to 20 kg, with appropriate assistance when required.
- Willingness to occasionally work outside regular business hours during integration campaigns, flight tests, critical milestones, or mission operations.
- Strong commitment to documentation, configuration control, schedule discipline, and maintaining high-quality program records.
- Ability to obtain and maintain any security clearances or background verifications required for defence, strategic, or government-sponsored projects (subject to applicable regulations).
- Demonstrate a strong safety-first mindset and adherence to laboratory, workshop, propulsion, and flight-test safety procedures.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Self-driven, proactive, and capable of independently driving complex technical programs from concept through demonstration.
- Close attention to detail, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Passion for aerospace, space exploration, reusable launch systems, and advanced flight technologies, with a willingness to continuously learn and adapt to new challenges.
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