Job Description

AALTO\xe2\x80\x99s Zephyr is a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) and is the only one of its kind to have demonstrated day/night longevity in the stratosphere. Providing a persistent and adaptable solution, unlike other unmanned aircraft. Its persistence enables a capability of flying continuously for months at a time, at around 70,000 feet, above weather and conventional air traffic. The newly established entity will become the leading Global HAPS Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) provider for the Mobile and Satellite Network Operator market \xe2\x80\x93 connecting the diverse needs of our customers \xe2\x80\x93 whether for rural, overlay capacity, disaster recovery or new services provision. In addition, it shall offer Platform as a Service (PaaS) to the Institutional and Military markets for Earth observation, tracking and communications requirements, as well as operating a global fleet of carbon neutral HAPS platforms \xe2\x80\x93 powered by sunlight. Job Purpose: We are looking for a Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Engineer to join Zephyr in Farnborough. You will report to the Head of Flight Physics and be responsible for the continuing development of Zephyr Flight Control, Navigation & Automation Systems, working as part of a small team delivering to tight timescales. Responsibilities:

• Derive and manage requirements from all stakeholder needs or upper-level requirements, across the successive system decomposition levels.
• Define the Control Laws and Algorithm Architecture for the on-board automation systems including Flight Controls System, Navigation System & Flight Sensor Management Systems.
• Identifying possible failure modes and defining robust contingency Control Laws to maintain safe flight.
• Write software requirements in compliance with quality criteria, avoiding over- and under- specification.
• Manage specificities of interface & allocation requirements between the various on-board systems.
• Verify that the sub-system, equipment and software requirements are correctly and completely implemented.
• Verification and validation of Flight Physics models based on experimental and flight test data.
• Liaising with other Flight Physics & Handling Qualities Subject Matter Experts within Zephyr and wider Airbus teams (including centres of excellence).
• Defining and running computer simulations for the platforms. (e.g. Matlab & Simulink).
• Work Package Management of a defined scope: actively driving the project work forwards to achieve the agreed deliverables on time and to budget.
• There may be a need to deploy overseas and support flight trials within the Flight Test Engineering domain, although this is unlikely in the short term and would be discussed at the time of the interview.

Experience and Qualifications:

• An Engineering degree with proven experience.
• Experience with unmanned autonomous air systems.
• Experience with closed-loop control systems and state-space foundations. Experience with Simulink or equivalent.
• Experience with defining test vectors to demonstrate correct functionality of the algorithms under various use-cases (for example take-off, landing, cruise, manoeuvring, and descent) and their robustness to erroneous or unexpected inputs.
• Demonstrable experience of taking a system technical requirement and evolving into a complete design solution.
• Algorithm architecture and detailed design documentation writing skills.
• Other desirable skills and experience:
  • Airborne Master Software (Functional embedded C).
  • Knowledge of Aircraft Stability and Control Augmentation.
  • Experience with Automatic Flight Guidance and Control Systems (AFGCS) in certified aircraft.
  • Knowledge of Certification and Flight Control Clearance processes.
  • Knowledge of Python coding environment.
  • Knowledge of RTCA DO-178.
  • Understanding of Hardware interfaces (Complex Electronic Hardware, FPGAs).

AALTO HAPS Ltd. is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity.