Navigation Fusion Engineer GPS-Denied

Requires a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field. Also requires 10+ years of job-related experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of job-related experience. Agile experience preferred.

CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Ability to obtain a Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required at time of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

ROLE AND POSITION OBJECTIVES:

We are seeking a highly skilled Navigation Fusion Engineer with expertise in Kalman filtering and cutting-edge sensor fusion techniques for GPS-denied environments. This role will contribute to the development and integration of navigation solutions for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV), and precision-guided munitions. You will design, implement, and optimize state estimation algorithms across a range of hardware and mission profiles.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement advanced sensor fusion algorithms using Extended Kalman Filters (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filters (UKF), and Nonlinear Observers.
• Develop and refine tightly coupled and loosely coupled navigation solutions integrating IMU, odometry, vision (VIO/SVO), LiDAR, magnetometers, and barometers.
• Evaluate and deploy factor graph-based SLAM and probabilistic inference frameworks (e.g., GTSAM, iSAM2) for persistent localization in GPS-denied environments.
• Contribute to algorithm development for multi-sensor fusion frameworks, including Deep Learning-Augmented Inertial Navigation, event-based sensors, and semantic fusion.
• Conduct performance evaluations under degraded or denied GNSS conditions, including urban canyons, subterranean, and electronic warfare environments.
• Work cross-functionally with autonomy, guidance, perception, and embedded software teams.
• Develop and support simulation frameworks (e.g., Gazebo, AirSim, ROS2) for testing navigation systems in virtual environments.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in navigation algorithm development with proven track record on deployed systems.
• Expert in Kalman Filter variants (EKF, UKF, IEKF, Particle Filters) and modern Bayesian estimation methods.
• Strong experience with GNSS-denied navigation techniques including:
  • Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO/SVO)
  • LiDAR-Inertial Odometry (LIO)
  • DVL integration (for maritime)
  • Zero-velocity updates (ZUPT) for foot-mounted or stationary UGVs
  • Cooperative Localization / SWaP-C-constrained fusion for munitions
• Proficiency with C++ and Python in real-time or embedded systems.
• Familiarity with ROS/ROS2, GTSAM, NavFusion engines like NavVis, u-blox, and VectorNav SDKs.
• Experience in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and integration with real-time operating systems (RTOS).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with:
  • Factor Graph optimization, graph-SLAM, and incremental smoothing (iSAM2)
  • Deep learning-enhanced navigation (e.g., DeepVO, LSTM-IMU fusion)
  • Event-based camera fusion
  • Cold-start estimation and initialization robustness
• Knowledge of STAN, BayesOpt, or GP-based estimation for adaptive sensor tuning.
• Publications or patents in navigation, estimation theory, or multi-sensor fusion.

Our Commitment to You:

• An exciting career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development.
• Research oriented work, alongside award winning teams developing practical solutions for our nation's security
• Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work, if desired (9/80 schedule)
• Competitive benefits, including 401k matching, flex time off, paid parental leave, healthcare benefits, health & wellness programs, employee resource and social groups, and more
• See more at gdmissionsystems.com/careers/why-work-for-us/benefits

Target salary range: USD $169,970.00/Yr. - USD $183,000.00/Yr. This estimate represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors (geographic location, etc.). Actual pay may vary. This job posting will remain open until the position is filled.

General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans