Communications & Networks Systems Development Engineer-Associate Staff

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 116,400 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans

MIT-funded pension

Matching 401K

Paid leave

Tuition reimbursement

Mentorship programs

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA is seeking a Communications & Networks Systems Development Engineer. You will develop advanced technologies for resilient communications across Department of War platforms. This role offers hands-on opportunities to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and directly influence the design and fielding of future communications capabilities.

The position requires strong software development skills, proficiency in multiple programming languages, and at least an M.S. in a relevant field. Excellent benefits and compensation are provided.

Qualifications

• Strong background in software development and networking.
• Experience in systems analysis and wireless communications theory.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop communications and networking modeling tools.
• Implement and assess systems for networking.
• Collaborate on hardware and software design.

Skills

Software development

Networking

Wireless communications

Signal processing

MATLAB

Python

C/C++

Linux

Education

M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics

B.S. with 2+ years of experience

Tools

VHDL

Embedded systems programming

Job description

Communications & Networks Systems Development Engineer – Associate Staff

Date: May 15, 2026

Location: Lexington, MA, US

Company: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

How do we ensure critical data gets where it’s needed—when it’s needed—across Department of War (DoW) space, air, and surface platforms operating over vast distances? Our team works at the forefront of this challenge, developing advanced technologies, algorithms, and architectures that enable resilient, interoperable communications for the joint force. As part of the Communications Networks and Analysis group, you’ll develop and apply expertise in emerging line‑of‑sight and beyond‑line‑of‑sight communications systems and software‑defined networking technologies to design and build robust connectivity solutions for users operating in congested and contested environments. Your work will directly improve the resilience and capacity of real‑world communications systems and help integrate them seamlessly across platforms and domains. We take ideas from concept to reality through hands‑on technical analysis, modeling, simulation, emulation, prototype development, and flight testing—giving you the opportunity to see your designs built, evaluated, and deployed to make a tangible impact.

Position Description

The Communications and Networks Systems Development Engineer plays a key role in shaping next‑generation communications and networking capabilities for the DoW. In this role, you will develop and modify software simulation capabilities to conduct communications and networking analyses. In addition, you will use these simulations to identify capability gaps. You’ll help close these gaps by implementing and testing novel algorithms and protocols across all layers of the network stack.

You’ll work as part of highly collaborative, multidisciplinary teams that bring together expertise in systems analysis, communications theory, networking, information assurance, systems engineering, RF, and digital hardware and software. This position offers hands‑on opportunities to take ideas from concept through implementation and evaluation, and to collaborate with government sponsors, academic partners and industry leaders. Your contributions will directly influence the design, development, and fielding of future DoW communications capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve communications and networking modeling tools; leverage our modeling tools to conduct analysis to assess current and emerging communication systems and network protocols
• Develop, implement, and assess state‑of‑the‑art systems for communications and networking
• Develop, simulate, and prototype novel communications and networking algorithms
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to design and prototype communications and networking hardware and software for surface, airborne, and space platforms
• Conduct laboratory experiments that include ground, airborne, and space systems with hardware-in-the-loop; collect, analyze, and interpret complex data sets from field and laboratory experiments
• Prepare technical documentation, including refereed publications, reports, and technical presentations for multiple internal and external audiences
• Share new ideas and intuitions with your colleagues, collaborators and others in our technical communities through mentorship, education, and outreach opportunities

Minimum Qualifications

• M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics (or related field) with a strong background in software development, networking, wireless communications, and/or signal processing. In lieu of an M.S., an B.S. with 2+ years of directly relevant experience is acceptable.
• Experience and/or coursework in systems analysis, optimization, wireless communications theory, data networks, digital signal processing, estimation and detection, radio frequency propagation modeling, linear algebra
• Proficiency with MATLAB, Python, C or C++, VHDL and/or embedded systems programming
• Proficiency with Linux or commercial real‑time operating systems
• Highly effective written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in multi‑disciplinary teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Software Defined Networking hardware and software
• Cloud network technologies and protocols
• Adaptive filtering, digital signal processing, media access control protocols, and machine learning
• Fixed point algorithm design and implementation targeting embedded processors such as FPGA, GPU, DSP
• Software Defined Radio
• Demonstrated ability to plan and manage tasks and projects

Compensation

Recent Graduate Hiring Range: $116,400 - $140,000

Experienced Hiring Range: $116,400 - $182,200

Disclaimer: MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting. The final salary offered to a selected candidate will depend on various factors, including—and not limited to—the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidate’s experience, skills and education/training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements. This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
• MIT‑funded pension
• Matching 401K
• Paid leave (including vacation, sick, parental, military, etc.)
• Tuition reimbursement and continuing education programs
• Mentorship programs
• A range of work‑life balance options
• and much more!

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre‑employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.

Requisition ID: 42999