Principal Navigation Engineer

About Mach Industries

Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition.

Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security.

The Role

Mach Industries is seeking a Principal Navigation Engineer to lead the development, integration, and flight validation of navigation systems for autonomous aircraft and related defense platforms. You will own the technical architecture, performance, and maturation of navigation solutions across all mission phases while leading the execution and development of the Navigation team.

This is a hands-on engineering leadership role combining principal-level technical authority, team execution, and people management. You will define navigation architecture, solve challenging estimation and integration problems, establish engineering rigor, develop engineering talent, and ensure navigation capabilities meet program objectives from requirements development through flight test.

The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in state estimation, inertial navigation, sensor fusion, and navigation system integration with decisive technical leadership, sound engineering judgment, and effective people leadership. Success requires translating ambiguous mission needs into clear technical plans, balancing rigor with program speed, and fielding reliable navigation systems in challenging operating environments.

Key Responsibilities

Navigation Architecture and Technical Ownership

• Own the technical architecture, roadmap, execution, and delivery of navigation capabilities across requirements, design, implementation, verification, integration, and flight test.
• Translate mission objectives and vehicle concepts into navigation requirements, sensor specifications, interface definitions, performance budgets, verification criteria, engineering plans, and team deliverables.
• Design, analyze, and mature navigation algorithms, including inertial navigation, state estimation, sensor fusion, sensor calibration, alignment, integrity monitoring, and fault detection and isolation.
• Develop robust estimation solutions that account for sensor noise, bias, drift, timing errors, misalignment, environmental disturbances, vehicle dynamics, computational constraints, and modeling uncertainty.
• Establish rigorous methods for evaluating estimator observability, convergence, consistency, robustness, integrity, and degraded-mode behavior.
• Lead technical discussions and design reviews, ensuring architecture and algorithm decisions are supported by appropriate analysis, test evidence, and system-level reasoning.
• Identify technical deficiencies and risks, establish corrective-action and mitigation plans, and drive issues to resolution.
• Serve as the technical authority for navigation architecture, algorithm design, sensor selection, and significant technical trade studies.

Performance Analysis, Implementation, and Flight Validation

• Lead navigation performance analysis, uncertainty quantification, covariance analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, sensitivity studies, and error-budget development across nominal and off-nominal conditions.
• Develop and maintain navigation simulation models, sensor error models, and software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop verification workflows.
• Drive production implementation of navigation algorithms in embedded, real-time software, reviewing numerical stability, computational efficiency, coordinate conventions, timing, initialization, and fault-handling behavior.
• Define specific ground and flight test objectives, instrumentation requirements, success criteria, and requirements-based verification plans.
• Lead navigation data analysis, model correlation, performance assessment, anomaly investigation, and corrective-action validation.
• Ensure navigation algorithms and hardware are appropriately characterized and validated against system-level requirements throughout development and flight testing.

Sensor Selection, Hardware Architecture, and Make-versus-Buy Decisions

• Own the technical evaluation and selection of navigation sensors and related hardware, including IMUs, GNSS receivers, aiding sensors, and integrated navigation solutions.
• Define sensor performance requirements based on mission needs, system-level error budgets, environmental constraints, interfaces, and navigation architecture.
• Lead quantitative trade studies considering accuracy, noise, bias stability, bandwidth, latency, environmental robustness, size, weight, power, cost, availability, and integration complexity.
• Evaluate make-versus-buy decisions for navigation hardware, algorithms, and integrated solutions, considering performance, development effort, lifecycle cost, schedule, maintainability, supplier support, and strategic value.
• Assess supplier capabilities, component limitations, technology maturity, configuration control, and lifecycle risks to inform architecture and procurement decisions.
• Define sensor characterization, calibration, qualification, and acceptance-test requirements to demonstrate that selected hardware meets system-level objectives.
• Partner with Avionics, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, Embedded Software, and Supply Chain teams to ensure successful hardware selection, integration, and lifecycle support.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead and develop a small team of navigation engineers, initially managing approximately three direct reports.
• Establish clear responsibilities, priorities, individual objectives, deliverables, and performance expectations aligned with program milestones.
• Delegate meaningful technical ownership while maintaining accountability for team outcomes and navigation deliverables.
• Provide regular technical feedback, mentorship, coaching, and professional-development opportunities.
• Identify individual strengths and development areas, assigning responsibilities that build increasing engineering independence and technical depth.
• Proactively address performance issues, technical blockers, unclear ownership, and team inefficiencies.
• Recognize when specialized expertise is required and engage the appropriate subject-matter experts.
• Foster a culture of technical rigor, accountability, collaboration, constructive challenge, and continuous improvement.

Engineering Judgment and Program Execution

• Independently identify and prioritize the highest-value engineering activities based on program objectives, technical risk, schedule, and available resources.
• Develop clear technical recommendations for ambiguous problems, evaluating alternatives, trade-offs, consequences, and residual risks.
• Make timely engineering and execution decisions within delegated authority without unnecessary reliance on GNC leadership.
• Exercise sound judgment in determining when additional analysis, algorithm complexity, hardware capability, or engineering effort provides meaningful value.
• Challenge assumptions, requirements, and proposed approaches when supported by sound engineering reasoning.
• Balance technical performance, reliability, architectural complexity, development cost, schedule, and program risk.
• Communicate significant decisions with a clear recommendation, supporting evidence, alternatives considered, and associated risks.
• Take ownership of technical and team outcomes rather than only coordinating or executing direction established by others.

Cross-Functional Leadership and Team Effectiveness

• Serve as the primary navigation partner to Guidance, Controls, Avionics, Embedded Software, Aerodynamics, Mechanical Engineering, Test, and program leadership.
• Coordinate navigation requirements, interfaces, integration activities, dependencies, and cross-functional deliverables.
• Contribute to system-level trade studies and concepts of operations, identifying navigation requirements, performance limitations, uncertainty impacts, and integration risks.
• Build effective working relationships across disciplines and independently resolve organizational and technical coordination challenges.
• Communicate team progress, technical risks, resource needs, schedule impacts, and mitigation plans clearly to engineering leadership and stakeholders.
• Establish reusable estimation methods, analysis tools, engineering standards, and development processes that improve quality and execution speed.
• Allocate engineering resources to work that materially improves system performance, reliability, risk reduction, or program execution.
• Develop team capabilities that reduce dependence on individual engineers and improve organizational resilience.

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, mathematics, physics, or a related technical field.
• Significant experience developing, implementing, and testing navigation or state-estimation systems for aircraft, missiles, launch vehicles, spacecraft, high-performance UAVs, robotics, or comparable autonomous systems, typically gained through 10 or more years of relevant work.
• Demonstrated ownership of navigation systems through multiple development phases, including requirements, architecture, algorithm development, implementation, verification, integration, and flight test.
• Deep understanding of inertial navigation, state estimation, Kalman filtering, sensor fusion, stochastic processes, observability, and navigation error propagation.
• Strong knowledge of navigation sensors, including IMUs, GNSS receivers, magnetometers, barometers, and other aiding sensors.
• Experience designing and evaluating estimation algorithms under realistic sensor errors, vehicle dynamics, computational constraints, and timing limitations.
• Experience with Monte Carlo analysis, uncertainty quantification, covariance analysis, requirements-based verification, and SIL/HIL environments.
• Strong understanding of navigation system calibration, alignment, integration, and validation using ground- or flight-test data.
• Proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink or Python for modeling, simulation, algorithm development, and performance analysis.
• Experience with C or modern C++ for production or embedded implementations.
• Fluency with modern engineering workflows, including Git, code review, continuous integration, issue tracking, requirements traceability, and configuration management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical decisions, organize team execution, coordinate multidisciplinary activities, and drive deliverables to completion.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, provide constructive feedback, develop engineering talent, and address performance or execution issues.
• Strong communication skills, engineering judgment, initiative, and accountability.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, controls, robotics, or a related field.
• Experience fielding navigation systems for autonomous fixed-wing aircraft, missiles, or high-performance unmanned systems.
• Experience formally leading a small engineering team, managing direct reports, or owning multidisciplinary technical execution.
• Expertise in advanced estimation techniques, including extended and unscented Kalman filtering, nonlinear filtering, smoothing, factor graphs, or optimization-based estimation.
• Experience with GNSS-denied or GNSS-degraded navigation, including visual, terrain-relative, radar-aided, or other alternative navigation methods.
• Experience with high-dynamic inertial navigation, strapdown mechanization, attitude estimation, and coordinate-frame transformations.
• Knowledge of navigation sensor selection, characterization, calibration, environmental qualification, and make-versus-buy evaluation.
• Experience with estimator integrity monitoring, fault detection and isolation, measurement rejection, and navigation performance monitoring.
• Familiarity with integrated guidance, navigation, and control architectures and the effects of navigation uncertainty on closed-loop vehicle performance.
• Demonstrated ability to establish technical standards, improve engineering processes, allocate resources, and influence system-level decisions across multidisciplinary teams.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, you will have:

• Established clear technical direction, ownership, priorities, and accountability across the Navigation team.
• Delivered measurable progress in navigation architecture, algorithm maturity, hardware integration, verification, and flight validation.
• Demonstrated independence in setting technical priorities, developing execution plans, and making sound decisions within delegated authority.
• Built a team of engineers capable of independently owning and delivering increasingly complex navigation capabilities.
• Identified technical and schedule risks early, developed effective mitigation plans, and driven critical issues to resolution.
• Established effective interfaces and working relationships with other engineering disciplines and program stakeholders.
• Improved the predictability, quality, rigor, and efficiency of navigation engineering development.
• Demonstrated sound judgment in balancing performance, reliability, complexity, schedule, cost, and available resources.
• Earned the confidence of GNC leadership to independently own navigation architecture, team execution, and routine technical decisions.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

Engineer

$250,000—$280,000 USD

At Mach, we believe that compensation is more than just a paycheck. It's a comprehensive package designed to reward the time, skills, and expertise you bring to our team. We are committed to offering competitive compensation that is equitable, transparent, and aligned with market trends.

Key Elements of Our Compensation Philosophy:

• Competitive Salaries: We continuously research market rates to ensure our salaries are competitive with those in our industry and geographic location.
• Performance-Based Incentives: Our bonus structure is tied to both individual and company performance, creating a win-win scenario that motivates our team members to excel.
• Equity Participation: We offer stock options or equity to employees, ensuring that you share in the success and growth of the company.
• Benefit Packages: Our benefits include healthcare, dental and vision plans, retirement savings, and paid time off, because we understand that your well-being extends beyond the office.
• Professional Development: We allocate funds for continuing education, training, and career growth.
• Transparency: We are committed to openness about our compensation tiers and how decisions are made, ensuring trust and mutual respect.

By joining Mach, you’re not just accepting a job—you’re becoming a key part of a team that values your contributions and invests in your growth. Together, we aim to create a rewarding environment that sets the stage for long-term success.

Data Privacy
To view Mach Industries candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://machindustries.com/privacy-policy.

Disclosures

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).  Please note that any offer for employment may be conditioned on authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export control laws and regulations without sponsorship for an export license.

Mach participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offers may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and training, critical skills, and business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in most offers and are considered part of Mach’s total compensation package. Mach offers benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and opportunities for professional development.

Mach is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws. If you’d like to defend the American way of life, please reach out!