---
title: 'Principal GNC Engineer at Outpost'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-gnc-engineer-outpost-los-angeles-aea9k5gvb416'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Principal GNC Engineer at Outpost 

- **Company:** Outpost 
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-07-31
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/outpostspace/jobs/4701412006

## Job description

Principal GNC Engineer

Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week)

The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us.

Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules of global logistics by building reusable Earth-return vehicles that unlock in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, and 60-minute global delivery through space.

Our CarryAll vehicle family returns payloads ranging from 200 kilograms to 10 metric tons, lands within 10 meters of its target, and can then be refurbished and launched again. One vehicle, many missions: responsive logistics and precision delivery for national security; commercial cargo moved with real cadence; R&D payloads flown, tested, and refined across repeatable cycles; and critical aid delivered where roads and runways can’t reach.

The demand is already here, validated through defense and civil agreements and supported by a growing pipeline of government and commercial customers.

We have the customers, the team, and a clear technical path ahead of us. We’re building the return lane. Come build it with us

## The Role

Outpost is building vehicles that bring things back from space. Getting mass from orbit to a precise point on the ground is a GNC problem end to end: a deorbit burn that has to hit an entry corridor, a hypersonic entry that has to bleed energy inside structural and thermal limits, and a guided descent that has to land on a target, repeatably, and cheaply enough to do it often.

We're hiring a Principal GNC Engineer to own that chain. This is not a role where you hand algorithms over a wall. You'll design the guidance and estimation architecture, write the flight code, put it on hardware, sit through the HIL runs, go out to the drop tests and flight campaigns, and come back with data that changes the design. If you want to see your controller fly within months rather than years, this is that job.

Basic Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in a related technical discipline with 5+ years as a GNC or Controls professional or Advanced degree with 3+ years as a GNC or Controls professional
- Software development experience in C++ and Python.
- Experience in software tools such as Git, Jira, and CI Pipeline
- Algorithms on real hardware (e.g. Extended Kalman Filters, LQR)
- Strong understanding of classical dynamics, modeling and simulation, classical and modern control.
- Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven atmosphere.
- Passion for space and the application of advanced estimation and control techniques in this domain

Additional Qualifications:

- Experience with implementing optimal control for burn planning
- Experience with satellite maneuvering and thruster systems
- Demonstrated project or professional experience in satellite attitude determination and control
- Experience in end-to-end development of three axis stabilized spacecraft incorporating momentum, magnetic, and/or propulsive control.
- Experience with flexible body control, orbital maneuvering, filtering, fault management, software development, and navigation filtering.

Responsibilities:

- Modeling, design, analysis, implementation and test of satellite attitude determination and control (ADCS) algorithms.
- Hardware performance specification including reaction wheel and torque rod sizing, sensor noise and performance, characteristics, redundancy and fault management.
- Define and own ADCS requirements definition with electrical and mechanical engineers
- Implement closed loop pointing, orbit raising, and station keeping algorithms for flight.
- Analyze platform stability to ensure low jitter of line-of-sight instruments.
- Develop high fidelity 6 degree of freedom satellite simulations using Python, Matlab or C++.
- Develop entry guidance, entry corridor and reachability analysis, deorbit burn targeting, aerothermal and load-constrained trajectory shaping.
- Develop EKF and UKF with GNSS, IMU, air data, radar or laser altimetry, magnetometers, and optical or terrain-relative sensors; sensor error modeling and calibration; GNSS-denied or degraded navigation, including through plasma blackout.
- Implement control of aerodynamically unstable or marginally stable vehicles, gain scheduling and robust control across wide Mach and dynamic pressure ranges, actuator and effector allocation, autonomous mode sequencing and abort logic.
- Support flight test campaigns at test sites — test planning, instrumentation requirements, real-time support, and flight data reconstruction.

Compensation & Benefits:

- Salary: Principal: $190,000– $225,00, based on experience
- Additional Compensation:  Annual performance-based bonuses that reward your impact.
- Shared upside: Meaningful equity in Outpost so you share directly in the value you help create.
- Comprehensive healthcare: Medical, dental, and vision coverage to keep you and your loved ones covered. We cover the base tier of medical insurance and all premiums of vision and dental.
- Protection when it matters: Company-provided short- and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind, plus life insurance for even more security.
- PTO: Recharge on your own terms with paid time off, plus 9 days of paid holidays.
- Invest in your future: 401(k) with company match to help you build long-term wealth.
- Fueled for the mission: Daily DoorDash lunch stipend, plus unlimited snacks, coffee, and tea to keep you energized.
- Mission that matters: Work shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders from aerospace, new space, and deep-tech industries building the future of orbital infrastructure.
- Pet Friendly Office: Bring your furry friend into the office so that they can be a part of our mission too.
- Monthly Company Happy Hours and Events: Drinks at the local bar, hibachi nights, mini golfing and more!

You must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by[22 C.F.R. § 120.15](https://mcas-proxyweb.mcas-gov.ms/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.govinfo.gov.mcas-gov.ms%2Fapp%2Fdetails%2FCFR-2022-title22-vol1%2FCFR-2022-title22-vol1-sec120-15%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=f8bb11b4f01700f17310f3bf730754686ec59a7b9f6537a616854eec08b221f4) , or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

## About Outpost 

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Outpost is building fully-reusable Earth-return vehicles to enable rapid global logistics and in-space manufacturing, delivering cargo from orbit to any point on Earth within 60 minutes.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Jason Dunn

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target customers**: U.S. Government (Army, Air Force, NASA), defense and humanitarian organizations, commercial space manufacturing firms
- **Mission**: To create tomorrow’s infrastructure by delivering cargo anywhere on Earth in under 60 minutes and manufacturing next-gen materials in orbit — faster, cleaner, and with greater precision.

## Products & Services
- **Carryall (Re-Entry Vehicle)**: A reusable, scalable Earth-return platform that launches on commercial rockets, glides back from orbit, and delivers multi-ton cargo within 25 meters of its target. Capable of returning payloads from orbit to Earth in under 60 minutes.
- **Ferryall (Orbital Testbed)**: A vehicle for routine access to orbit for payloads, experiments, and research, delivering them back to Earth within hours. Serves as a hypersonics test bed and TRL-raising mission platform.
- **Precision Airdrop System**: A delivery system deployable from aircraft (from a few hundred feet AGL up to 65,000' MSL) that lands cargo with 25-meter precision, designed for conflict zones, disaster areas, and remote operations.
- **In-Space Manufacturing**: Orbital manufacturing capabilities, starting with ultra-low-loss fiber optics that offer 10-20x the performance of terrestrially manufactured fiber, enabling faster AI inference, lower data center energy use, and faster global communications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: $7.1M total funding (Seed round, August 2022, with 7 investors)
- **Annual Revenue**: Approximately $1.0M
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by contracts and awards from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, NASA, and other mission-critical customers. Supported by expert investors with deep space and defense experience.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of 30 employees with +5.7% monthly growth; 11 active job postings; leadership team with proven track record of generating over $2.5 billion in contracts and awards and recruiting over $500 million in capital at previous ventures.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven Leadership**: Founder Jason Dunn was co-founder and CTO of Made In Space (acquired, later IPO as Redwire NYSE: RDW), where he led the development of the first 3D printers and in-space fiber optics manufacturing technologies in orbit. President Amir Blachman was the first employee and Chief Business Officer at Axiom Space, where he helped raise over $500M and secure $2.3B in contracts.
- **Deep Engineering Talent**: VP of Engineering Julie Newman is a former Boeing Chief Engineer and NASA JPL lead engineer on the Europa Clipper mission, with prior avionics experience at SpaceX on Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon.
- **First-Mover in Earth Return**: Pioneering the return-to-Earth architecture for logistics, filling a critical gap in the space economy for reusable, precise cargo return.
- **Multi-Mission Platform**: The same vehicle enables both cargo delivery and in-space manufacturing return, creating a dual revenue stream.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the company’s commercial and government business, with an emphasis on defense logistics, disaster relief, and rapid mobility.
- Developing a novel reentry vehicle system defining the future of high-speed logistics and in-space manufacturing.
- Expanding orbital manufacturing capabilities, starting with advanced fiber optics for telecom and AI infrastructure.
- Building long-term operating model for space logistics and in-space manufacturing.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Work**: A chance to build the infrastructure that lets humanity move anything, anywhere, at the speed of space — working on technology that has direct impact on defense, humanitarian aid, and next-generation manufacturing.
- **High-Caliber Team**: Work alongside former SpaceX, Boeing, NASA JPL, and Axiom Space engineers in a fast-paced startup environment.
- **Culture of Urgency**: Described as a "mission-focused team, building with urgency, grit, and care for the work we do and the people we do it with."
- **Location**: Based in Los Angeles, California, with all current open positions listed as on-site in Los Angeles.
- **Growth Stage**: At 30 employees with rapid hiring, early employees have significant impact and ownership.
- **Open Roles**: Currently hiring for 16 positions including Mechanical Engineer, Director of Structures and Mechanisms, Senior Paraglider & Parachute Engineer, VP of Engineering - Vehicle, Senior Software Architect, Senior Avionics Engineer, and Mission Manager.

## Sources
1. [outpost.space](https://www.outpost.space/)
2. [outpost.space/company](https://www.outpost.space/company)
3. [outpost.space/careers](https://www.outpost.space/careers)
4. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/outpostspace)
5. [Greenhouse Jobs](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/outpostspace/jobs/4662631006)

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