Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer

Panthalassa is a renewable energy and ocean technology company focused on sustainable energy solutions. The Senior GNC Engineer will work on developing control architecture and algorithms for autonomous ocean devices, ensuring reliable performance in challenging conditions.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and tune state estimation, navigation, and control algorithms for the Node across its full envelope of operating conditions
• Build high-fidelity Node physics models and simulation environments (SIL/HIL) to validate estimator, navigation, and controller performance across operating conditions and edge cases
• Identify plant dynamics and disturbance models from experimental, HIL, and field data, and use them to inform estimator and controller design and validate model fidelity
• Lead root cause analysis and resolution of field issues related to navigation and steering behavior, turning real-world data into estimator and controller improvements and calibration updates

Requirements:

• Experience with control and estimation/navigation design and implementation
• Strong Python for design and analysis as well as production on-target code. Fluency in systems programming languages (C/C++/Rust) to understand the implementation and assist in diagnosing issues
• Experience designing for failure modes and multi-year unattended endurance: power/energy-aware, comms-loss-tolerant, sensor-health-aware autonomy and safe-modes
• Experience with HIL/SIL verification and experimental validation (wave tank, model testing)
• A genuine ownership instinct and hands-on approach for deployed systems, including field and remote diagnosis
• BS, MS, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace / Aeronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent depth of experience in production-level GNC system (typically 5-7+ years)
• Experience working on dynamic positioning / station keeping AUVs, underwater gliders, or other long-endurance autonomous vehicles
• At-sea/field operations experience