- Robot type
- Drone · Defense
- Location
- LeesburgVirginiaUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- Aug 31, 2026
- Salary
- $128,000–$195,250 a year
Full-time
Senior RF/DSP Engineer
Job description
AV is seeking a hands-on Senior RF/DSP Engineer to expand the RF detection and classification capabilities of our Counter-UAS products.
The Senior RF/DSP Engineer will investigate unfamiliar drone command, control, and telemetry links and turn incomplete RF evidence into reliable production capabilities. A typical assignment may begin with a newly encountered drone/controller pair, a collection of complex-IQ recordings, and technical guidance on approach and priorities from senior signal-processing staff.
This is an individual-contributor engineering role. The successful candidate will personally analyze signals, develop algorithms, write and debug production code, design experiments, and…
Job responsibilities
- Analyze wideband complex-IQ recordings from known and unfamiliar RF systems.
- Characterize signal bandwidth, timing, modulation, synchronization, channel access, frequency-hopping behavior, framing, coding, and other observable properties.
- Design controlled experiments that isolate transmitter behavior and reveal waveform or protocol structure.
- Develop algorithms for burst detection, synchronization, demodulation, signal characterization, protocol recovery, classification, and tracking.
- Distinguish target signals from noise, interference, receiver artifacts, and benign emitters in dense RF environments.
- Implement and optimize production DSP capabilities in modern C++.
- Use MATLAB, Python, or similar tools for exploration, simulation, visualization, and algorithm prototyping.
- Convert exploratory analysis into maintainable, observable, and computationally bounded production components, following the team's established architecture and methodology.
Job requirements
- BS or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field.
- Substantial professional experience developing RF, communications, radar, electronic-warfare, or related signal-processing systems.
- Strong DSP and digital-communications fundamentals, including several of the following: Sampling and aliasing; Digital down conversion; FIR/IIR and multirate filtering; FFT and time-frequency analysis;
- Demonstrated ability to investigate an unfamiliar signal or system using measurements and controlled experiments.
- Experience analyzing real complex-IQ data—not only simulations or high-level system models.
- Hands-on experience implementing, testing, and debugging DSP algorithms.
- Proficiency writing production-quality C++ in a Linux environment.
- Experience creating automated tests and replaying recorded data through algorithm pipelines.