Junior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer

Houston, TX

Full Time

Entry Level

In this position you will work with our team of engineers and our NASA customers to support human spaceflight programs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center such as Gateway, the Orion crew vehicle, and the International Space Station in the development of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) subsystem Flight Software (FSW) and integrated Flight Hardware (FHW). This may also include integration with human/computer interfaces, flight computer data interfaces, custom development and integration tools, and spacecraft and space mission environment simulations. Must have solid software development, integration and testing skills, good team communication skills, initiative and an aptitude for hands-on problem solving and troubleshooting.

A Junior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer typically focuses on supporting the design, analysis, and simulation of systems that manage a spacecraft's trajectory and attitude. At this level, you will work under the mentorship of senior engineers to develop algorithms and validate system performance through rigorous testing.

Key Responsibilities:

Algorithm Development: Assist in designing and implementing control loops for attitude determination and position control.
Modeling & Simulation: Develop and maintain high-fidelity 6-DOF (degree-of-freedom) simulation models for vehicle dynamics, sensors (e.g., star trackers, GPS), and actuators (e.g., reaction wheels, thrusters).
Performance Analysis: Conduct Monte Carlo simulations and frequency-domain stability analyses to ensure compliance with mission requirements.
Testing & Verification: Support hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing to validate GNC flight software.
Mission Operations Support: Analyze flight telemetry data to troubleshoot anomalies and assess on-orbit performance.
Documentation: Create technical reports, design review presentations, and interface control documents (ICDs).

Required Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Software, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (Physics/Math).
Technical Knowledge: Strong foundation in orbital mechanics, classical/modern control theory, and state estimation (e.g., Kalman filtering).
Software Skills: Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink is standard; experience with C/C++ and/or Python for algorithm implementation is highly valued.
Communication: Ability to collaborate effectively in multi-disciplinary teams and present findings to stakeholders.

Desired Qualifications:

Experience with Government Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) and/or Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) mission simulation and analysis software tools, such as, NASA’s TRICK, NASA’s GMAT, NASA’s Copernicus, AGI’s STK, and/or ai Solutions’ FreeFlyer.
Knowledge of GNC HW components such as GPS Receivers, Star Trackers, Inertial Measurement Units, Gyroscopes, Magnetorquers, Control Moment Gyros, Reaction Wheels, and/or cold gas jet thrusters.
Familiarity with software configuration management systems such as Git , Bitbucket, Subversion (SVN), etc.
Experience with software issue tracking and delegation tools such as Jira, GitLab, GitHub, Trello, etc.

Citizenship or lawful permanent resident required due to federal position.

About METECS:

We are a high-performance team providing advanced engineering, software, and analysis solutions for human space flight and terrestrial applications. We develop and integrate custom software for NASA and other government and commercial customers utilizing a wide variety of in-house, commercial, and open-source technologies. Our specialties include robotics automation, embedded systems, hardware/software integration, multibody dynamics simulations, immersive computer graphics, XR systems and advanced web-based tools.

METECS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Apply for this position

Required*

First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*

Phone*

Address*

Resume*

We've received your resume. Click here to update it.

Attach resume or Paste resume

Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or Paste resume

Paste your resume here or Attach resume file

Desired salary

Are you a US Citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder)?*

Date available to start?*

What is your Bachelor's degree GPA?*

Are you willing to relocate if you do not reside in the Houston area?*

Why do you think you would be a good fit for this position? Is there anything else we should know? (please limit your response to 80 words or less)

Are you currently employed?*

Reason for leaving (or considering to leave) most recent/current employer.*

Reason for leaving second most recent employer.*

BOT Deterrent: What year was METECS founded? (check out About Us page on our website)*

I certify that the facts in this application are true and complete to the best of my knowledge and understand that, if employed, falsified statements on this application shall be grounds for immediate dismissal.

I understand that, as a condition of my consideration for employment, or as a condition of my continued employment, METECS may perform a criminal background check and/or perform a consumer report that includes, but is not limited to, my creditworthiness or similar characteristics, employment and education verifications, social security verification, criminal and civil history, personal interviews, DMV records, any other public records and any other information bearing on my credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics and trustworthiness.

I authorize investigation of all statements contained herein and the references and employers listed above to give you any and all information concerning my previous employment and any pertinent information they may have, personal or otherwise, and release the company from all liability for any damage that may result from utilization of such information.

This authorization does not permit the release or use of diability-related or medical information in a manner prohibited by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other relevant federal and state laws.* By clicking this box, I certify that I agree with the above statement and that the facts contained in this application are true and complete to the best of my knowledge.

The following questions are entirely optional.

To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity and/or Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Invitation for Job Applicants to Self-Identify as a U.S. Veteran

A “disabled veteran” is one of the following:
- a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
- a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran status

I IDENTIFY AS ONE OR MORE OF THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF PROTECTED VETERAN LISTED ABOVE
I AM NOT A PROTECTED VETERAN
I DON’T WISH TO ANSWER

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
Blind or low vision
Cancer (past or present)
Cardiovascular or heart disease
Celiac disease
Cerebral palsy
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
Diabetes
Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
Intellectual or developmental disability
Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
Short stature (dwarfism)
Traumatic brain injury

Please check one of the boxes below:

YES, I HAVE A DISABILITY, OR HAVE HAD ONE IN THE PAST NO, I DO NOT HAVE A DISABILITY AND HAVE NOT HAD ONE IN THE PAST I DO NOT WANT TO ANSWER

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

You must enter your name and date
Name	Date

Human Check*

Submit Application

Thanks for visiting our Career Page. Please review our open positions and apply to the positions that match your qualifications.

Junior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer

Apply for this position