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: $155,000 - $170,000 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 P