Staff GNC Engineer – Flight Controls
Pivotal · On-site · Palo Alto, CA · $200k–$235k
Posted by Pivotal on their careers site · View the original posting
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About the Role
The GNC team at Pivotal develops the flight control and navigation algorithms that let our aircraft fly safely and precisely, including on the Helix family of aircraft. We are looking for a Staff GNC Engineer to lead flight control law development on an aircraft program: owning the control law architecture and its design, tuning, and verification from simulation through flight test.
You will set the technical direction for how our aircraft are controlled in hover, transition, and forward flight. That includes defining the control law architecture and design criteria, using system identification and flight data to improve our models, and making sure the control laws meet stability, performance, and handling qualities requirements. You will also be a team lead for flight controls, setting priorities for the team, overseeing its technical work, and mentoring the engineers on it, while working closely with the navigation, firmware, aeromechanical, systems engineering, safety, and flight test teams.
The ideal candidate has a track record of taking flight control laws from design to flight on real aircraft, ideally VTOL, rotorcraft, or eVTOL, and the judgment to make sound design and flight test decisions with incomplete information. This role is a strong next step for an engineer who has grown through hands-on flight controls work and is ready to lead a team.