What is the typical range?

The middle half of the postings offer $155K to $222K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.

Which companies advertise the highest Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer pay?

Shield AI ($260K), Reliable Robotics ($236K), Zoox ($230K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).

Is a guidance, navigation and control engineer a high-paying job?

The median Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer posting advertises $191K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 10% above the middle of the market.

What is the Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer salary per hour and per month?

The median of $191K a year is about $92 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,917 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $75 to $107 an hour.

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.

Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer Salary: $192K Average

Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer salary by level

Lead roles advertise a median of $233K, 20% more than senior roles ($193K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.

Level	Median salary	Middle half	Roles
Senior	$193K	$175K–$222K	46
Lead and above	$233K	$202K–$256K	28
No level in the title	$160K	$144K–$200K	77

Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer salary by location

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area	$215K	17
🇺🇸California	$193K	102
🇺🇸Seattle, WA	$192K	15
🇺🇸United States	$192K	150
🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA	$158K	32

Skills that pay more for Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer roles

Skill	Median with it	Above the median	Postings
Computer Vision	$216K	+$25K	34
Jira	$210K	+$20K	15
Sensor fusion	$208K	+$16K	41
Machine Learning	$206K	+$15K	17
Test planning	$204K	+$13K	22

Top-paying companies

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
Shield AI	$260K	7
Reliable Robotics	$236K	6
Zoox	$230K	3
Anduril Industries	$210K	28
True Anomaly	$208K	8
CHAOS Industries	$200K	6
Katalyst Space Technologies	$190K	5
Muon Space	$183K	4
Inversion	$180K	4
Rocket Lab	$174K	12
Xona Space	$165K	6
Apex Technology	$163K	4
K2 Space	$160K	3
Quantum Space	$155K	3
Quest Defense Systems & Solutions, Inc.	$155K	3
SpaceX	$144K	16
Relativity Space	$137K	3

Highest-paying open Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer roles

All guidance, navigation and control engineer jobs

State Estimation Engineer (R4602)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Dallas, TX, US$275K - $412KC++LinuxCUDA6d
State Estimation Engineer (R4783)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Dallas, TX, US$275K - $412KC++LinuxCUDA12d
Senior / Staff Software Engineer - Learned Trajectory Machine Learning EngineerZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$242K - $349KLead and abovePythonC++Machine Learning24mo
Head of Guidance, Navigation, and ControlFortastra Corporation · 🇺🇸Torrance, CA$300K - $345KLead and abovePythonC++MATLAB6mo
Principal Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) EngineerCHAOS Industries · 🇺🇸El Segundo, California, United States$210K - $338KLead and above5w
Principal GNC EngineerTrue Anomaly · 🇺🇸Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA$220K - $315KLead and abovePythonC++Security clearance7mo
Engineering Manager, State EstimationHaydenai · 🇺🇸San Francisco HQ Office$240K - $310KHybridC++Machine LearningComputer Vision4mo
Senior GNC Engineer II- Mission FormulationRocket Lab · 🇺🇸Long Beach, CA$162K - $300KSeniorPythonC++MATLAB4mo
State Estimation Engineer, Data Collection SystemsFigure · 🇺🇸San Jose, CA$150K - $300KPythonC++Machine Learning2mo
GNC EngineerTrue Anomaly · 🇺🇸Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA$115K - $300KPythonC++Agile3mo
Principal Guidance, Navigation & Controls ScientistGRVTY · 🇺🇸Ventura, California, United States$270K - $300KLead and aboveMATLAB5mo
Sr. Flight Navigation EngineerReliable Robotics · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA$215K - $300KSeniorPythonC++C6mo
Sr. Guidance EngineerReliable Robotics · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA$215K - $300KSeniorPythonC++C3w
GNC Software Engineer (Civil Aviation)Airspace Intelligence.com · 🇺🇸Boston, US$200K - $300KRustPythonLLM3w
Perception & State Estimation Engineer - DoorDash AirDoorDash USA · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$199K - $292KRustPythonC++12d
Staff Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) Engineer, Air Dominance & Strike - MissilesAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$191K - $292KLead and aboveC++JiraAgile6w
Staff Guidance Navigation and Control Software Engineer (GNC)Anduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States; Santa Ana, Califor…$220K - $292KLead and aboveMATLABComputer VisionSecurity clearance3d
Principal Guidance, Navigation, and Control EngineerKatalyst Space Technologies · 🇺🇸Broomfield, Colorado, United States$180K - $280KLead and abovePythonC++Machine Learning3mo
Guidance Software EngineerCHAOS Industries · 🇺🇸El Segundo, California, United States$160K - $280KLinuxCI/CDAgile4w
Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) EngineerFortastra Corporation · 🇺🇸Torrance, CA$180K - $280KPythonC++MATLAB5mo

Questions about Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer pay

What is the average Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer salary?: $192K a year on average and $191K at the median, across 153 open Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
What is the typical range?: The middle half of the postings offer $155K to $222K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
Which companies advertise the highest Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer pay?: Shield AI ($260K), Reliable Robotics ($236K), Zoox ($230K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
Is a guidance, navigation and control engineer a high-paying job?: The median Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer posting advertises $191K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 10% above the middle of the market.
How much can you earn as a guidance, navigation and control engineer?: A tenth of the postings offer $250K a year or more; the highest open Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer role advertises up to $412K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
What is the Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer salary per hour and per month?: The median of $191K a year is about $92 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,917 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $75 to $107 an hour.
Which skills pay more for Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer roles?: Postings that ask for Computer Vision (+$25K, 34 postings), Jira (+$20K, 15 postings), Sensor fusion (+$16K, 41 postings) advertise more than the $191K median of all Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer postings with pay.
Where do these figures come from?: From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.