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Sentinel - Sr. Staff Lead Engineer (GN&C) - 18840

Northrop Grumman

Posted today

Job Requirements

Huntsville, AL
Secret Polygraph Unspecified
Career Level not specified
$166,500 - $249,700

Job Description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescription

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work - and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is seeking a Sr. Staff Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) Engineer supporting activities including flight simulator development, GN&C algorithm development and implementation, and "test as you fly" with rigorous model and requirements verification and validation.

This position will be located in Roy, UT / Huntsville, AL / Manhattan Beach, CA supporting the Sentinel program.

The successful candidate will provide technical leadership within the Flight Systems Analysis & Algorithms team helping in planning, development, and integration of work scope, and identifying GN&C risks and opportunities. The candidate will also be expected to provide subject matter expertise and brief senior leadership on technical issues.

Specific duties to include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Work in multi-disciplinary teams to develop, verify, and validate a complex 6-degree of freedom missile flight simulator
  • Design and implement guidance, navigation, and control algorithms
  • Gain tuning and assessment of system stability
  • Develop software tools for analyzing GN&C performance
  • Conduct system assessments for performance against mission requirements
  • Perform GN&C system and accuracy analysis of flight tests, and root cause error analysis


Basic Qualifications:
  • 14 years with bachelor's in relevant field of study, 12 years with master's, 10 years with PhD. An additional 4 years of experience can be considered in lieu of a degree.
  • Must be a US Citizen with an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application with an investigation completed within the last 6 years
  • Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) approval within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business need
  • 10+ years' experience in guidance, navigation, or control algorithm development and/or analysis for launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, and/or aircraft applications
  • 8+ years' experience in high level programming languages (MATLAB, C++) and Object-Oriented Programming design
  • 8+ years' experience working in a highly collaborative & dynamic team-based environment


Preferred Qualifications:
  • Master's or PhD Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field
  • DoD Top Secret Clearance
  • Experience in sensor navigation, including inertial, radio, and/or optical navigation techniques
  • Experience in strategic missile guidance and implementation of guidance algorithms
  • Experience in trajectory optimization, non-linear control, and/or adaptive/autonomous flight control systems
  • Experience with optimal state estimation filters (e.g. Kalman)
  • Knowledge of machine learning applications for adaptive flight control
  • Demonstrated proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink, C/C++, Python, and/or other tools for GN&C simulation and development
  • Demonstrated knowledge of aerodynamic modeling, flight mechanics, missile/re-entry vehicle dynamics
  • Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing, embedded control systems, and real-time software integration
  • In depth knowledge of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) systems and systems architecture
  • Experience in software version control system (i.e. Git) and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) practices
  • Experience in algorithmic application development and optimization
  • Experience in real-time embedded software development, including real-time multi-threaded architecture design, w/ knowledge of guidance and control systems
  • Experience with the Integrity Operating System and/or VxWorks
  • Experience with Visual Studio
  • Experience with Coverity, SonarCube, CodeSonar, Fortify and/or other SAST applications
  • Experience with the Atlassian tool set, Kubernetes, Model Based Engineering, GitLab, and DevSecOps best practices
  • Excellent integration troubleshooting skills
  • Knowledge of software standards including DO-330 or DO-178C


As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for our robust benefits package including:
  • Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
  • 401k
  • Educational Assistance
  • Life Insurance
  • Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
  • Paid Time Off
  • Health & Wellness Resources
  • Employee Discounts


This position's standard work schedule is a 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.

#Sentinelsystems

Primary Level Salary Range: $166,500.00 - $249,700.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.
group id: 10122071

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Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees are Defining Possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will allow you to work together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines. © 2025 Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.
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