Flight Dynamics Engineer

Flight Dynamics Engineer

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering, physics or applied mathematics, or related disciplines
• Minimum 8 or more years of increasingly responsible professional engineering/scientific experience in flight mechanics, astrodynamics, maneuver optimization, trajectory optimization, launch vehicle trajectory design, hypersonic vehicle modeling, or general trajectory modeling and simulation
• Demonstrated technical excellence in the relevant job capabilities and functions
• The ability to operate independently, often in the presence of ambiguity, and still deliver high quality, relevant end products to a range of customers
• Proven ability to lead technical analyses and lead teams
• Proficiency in one or more of the following programming languages and environments: C, C++, Fortran, Python, Linux, and/or MATLAB
• Willing to travel domestically approx. 10%
• The ability to obtain and maintain a TS//SSBI (SCI) clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government, is strongly preferred; U.S citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance
• Minimum 12 or more years of increasingly responsible relevant professional technical and leadership work for Senior Engineering Specialist
• Demonstrated success as a mentor of junior staff
• Demonstrated success as leading and coordinating teams across organizational boundaries

Responsibilities

• Trajectory design and optimization for launch vehicles and spacecraft for missions operating in LEO, MEO, HEO, GEO, and other earth-centric regimes
• Astrodynamics and orbital mechanics analysis including orbit propagation and maneuver design and optimization for orbit transfer, stationkeeping, graveyard, disposal, and reentry events
• Analysis of vehicles with chemical and/or electric propulsion
• Evaluating contested missions applications for space systems to understand threat performance, assess vulnerabilities, and improve system resiliency
• Maneuver and orbit design, selection, and optimization for missions that support Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) objectives with complex operational constraints
• Developing Concepts of Operations (CONOPS), exploring Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), and incorporating operational constraints into the design and maturation of space systems
• Providing operational support for nominal launch and spacecraft deployment and transfer sequences, anomaly resolution, and on-call emerging events
• Utilizing optimal control, flight mechanics, and computer science/algorithm development skills to create new capabilities to service customer requests as stand-alone services and/or ready-to-integrate submodules
• Performing research and development and building new flight dynamics tools to cultivate and maintain a healthy and modern internal tool base
• Leveraging external tools like ASSET, GPOPS-II, SNOPT, POST, OTIS, Copernicus, GMAT, EMTG, etc. where appropriate to augment internally developed capabilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering, physics or applied mathematics, or related disciplines is strongly desired
• Graduate level course work, research and/or experience in one or more of the following areas: orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, ascent trajectory modeling, hypersonic flight simulation, optimal control, flight mechanics, and/or trajectory modeling and simulation
• Experience using or building analysis software to combine numerical methods, orbital or flight mechanics, and optimization approaches for launch vehicles, missiles, interceptors, spacecraft, or reentry vehicles (hypersonics)
• Experience with nonlinear programming (non-linear programming), direct methods, gradient-based optimization, parameter optimization, genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, heuristic optimization methods, indirect methods, and/or calculus of variations
• Advanced algorithm development skills to include parallel processing and scripting experience
• Experience with contested space trajectory applications, military exercises, and wargaming events
• Current TS/SCI and/or TS/SAP Access