Senior GNC Engineer – Autonomy and Guidance

Hermeus is an aerospace and defense technology company founded to radically accelerate air travel by delivering hypersonic aircraft. The company aims to develop hypersonic aircraft quickly and cost-effectively by integrating hardware-rich, iterative development with modern computing and autonomy. This approach has been validated through design, build, and test of the company’s first combined turbojet-ramjet engine and is now being scaled through its first flight vehicle program, Quarterhorse. Hermeus is also developing Darkhorse — an uncrewed hypersonic aircraft designed to deliver unique asymmetric capabilities to the warfighter.  The Autonomy & Guidance Engineer will be responsible for: 1) Developmentof autonomy and guidance algorithms for full flight envelope (including but not limited to autonomous flight, cruise, landing/take-off, ascent/descent) 2) Supporting the testing and validation efforts on advanced autonomous flight systems and guidance algorithm development for our aircraft, as needed.   
The successful candidate will work closely with our team of engineers and stakeholders to ensure that our aircraft meets safety, performance and efficiency standards. The Autonomy and Guidance Engineer will also be involved in modeling and simulation activities to evaluate the performance of the aircraft and optimize its design.  
Note: This position is open to both Senior Engineers and Level II Engineers. All candidates will be evaluated and placed into the appropriate level based on their experience and qualifications. Our goal is to capture a broad range of excellent candidates and match them with roles that best fit their career stage and skill set.

Responsibilities:

• Spearhead autonomy and guidance algorithm development efforts 
• Develop autonomy architecture components including (but not limited to) the decision making, real-time guidance and planning activities  
• Design and develop real-time guidance/planning strategies for our autonomously flying aircraft using advanced techniques and tools  
• Develop and implement decision making algorithms and strategies (including but not limited to decision trees, rule-based strategies, MDPs, POMDPs, etc…) to ensure safe and efficient decision making architecture  
• Conduct simulation studies to assess the performance of the autonomy/guidance loop and optimize its design  
• Communicate and collaborate very closely with cross-functional teams on autonomy/guidance model integration, sub-system integration and simulation testing/verification capabilities. 
• Running and conducting Monte Carlo simulations, as well as regression testing and test coverage scenarios. 
• Conduct (when possible) flight testing to validate and refine the performance of the aircraft’s autonomy/auto-pilot systems  
• Collaborate with other engineering teams to ensure that the aircraft meets safety, performance and efficiency standards  
• Participate in the development of system-level requirements and specifications  
• Prepare technical reports, presentations and documentation related to Autonomy/Guidance engineering activities  

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s with 5+years of experience, Master’s + 3years of experience, or PhD 1-2years of experience in Aerospace, Electrical, Mechanical or related Engineering field  
• Strong understanding of autonomous systems, autonomy algorithms, autonomous decision making, autonomous guidance and planning 
• Experience with high fidelity simulation platforms, models, sub-systems, SW system integration, flight control algorithms and strategies, with emphasis on Autonomy & Guidance. 
• Proficiency in MATLAB, Python, familiarity with Julia, and other modeling and simulation tools  
• Experience with flight testing and data analysis. 
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills  
• Strong communication and teamwork skills  
• Passion for aviation and the development of advanced aircraft technologies