Senior GNC Engineer
Be one of the Bedo 100
Albedo is making Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) mainstream, building the infrastructure to usher every satellite mission set into this new orbital domain. We build buses, integrated satellites, and turnkey missions for customers to thrive in VLEO, between 250 km - 400 km, where proximity compounds performance and drag self-cleans debris.
As part of the first 100 employees at Albedo, you will have a big impact on Albedo’s trajectory to proliferating VLEO — whether you’re advancing hardware to increase satellite longevity, scaling production for large constellations, building next-gen flight and ground software to push performance, or enabling missions that matter for national security and our day-to-day life here on earth.
How We Operate: Albedo takes a first-principles approach — in space and in business. We move with speed, take calculated risks, and learn quickly. We use AI regularly to create leverage in every discipline across the company. We work in-person at our Broomfield CO HQ to maximize team and company productivity. We work hard and with urgency to compound our first-mover advantage.
Who We're Looking For: Builders who want to own outcomes, not tasks. Systems thinkers who balance precision with iteration while thinking about the big picture. Individuals who are energized by creating a category rather than competing in an existing one. You’ll join a team that has already proven what others said wasn’t feasible and is now scaling and upgrading our VLEO buses & payloads to serve mission sets across sensing, communications, and responsive operations.
If you can feel the excitement running through your veins, apply to be one of the Bedo 100.
We’re looking for a Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer to help design the brains that keep our spacecraft precise, agile, and on mission. If you like turning math into flight code and simulations into reality, you’ll fit right in.
What You’ll Do:
- Design and implement spacecraft GNC algorithms, owning your work from initial design through simulation validation and flight integration
- Develop control and estimation algorithms in modern C++, targeting both simulation environments and embedded flight software
- Design feedback control laws with frequency-domain constraints to meet mission pointing and motion performance requirements
- Contribute to system-level analysis including sensor and actuator modeling, structural dynamics interaction, and control-structure co-design
- Build and validate high-fidelity environment models (orbital dynamics with disturbing forces) and correlate against real-world data
- Integrate models and control algorithms into closed-loop simulation frameworks; use them for Monte Carlo analysis and performance characterization
- Partner closely with the flight software team to ensure clean integration from simulation to flight
- Support hardware-in-the-loop testing and contribute to mission readiness
Your Ideal Skills and Experience:
- Proficiency in C++, with some exposure to real-time or embedded system development
- Solid foundation in control systems design and stability analysis, including frequency-domain methods (Bode plots, phase/gain margin, bandwidth)
- Familiarity with guidance algorithms for spacecraft slew planning and constraint handling
- Familiarity with state estimation and Kalman filtering
- Experience with spacecraft GNC sensors (star trackers, IMUs, sun sensors, GNSS) and attitude actuators (reaction wheels, torque rods, CMGs)
- Ability to leverage AI tools to accelerate development and iteration
- B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field — or equivalent depth from a Ph.D. program; 3–5 years of relevant experience (or equivalent research depth)
Salary Range:
$130,000 - $155,000 per year
Compensation and Benefits for Full-Time Roles:
- Employee friendly equity compensation
- 4% direct matching 401k
- Health Insurance: 100% employee coverage & 75% dependent coverage
- Parental leave and childcare coverage
- Flexible vacation and sick time from day one
- 12 company holidays
- $100 monthly wellness benefit
- Relocation package if not based in Denver
The final compensation package is subject to change if the candidate's experience and company need drive a different job level than originally slated for the position.
Albedo does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to Albedo employees. Albedo is not responsible for any fees or overhead related to unsolicited resumes.
Additional Requirements: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. All persons hired will be required to be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled: Albedo is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Relocation: Relocation support for this position is available
US CITIZENSHIP IS REQUIRED
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