Radar Product Lead

AdAstra Talent Advisors; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site in San Francisco

Competitive cash compensation

Equity grant at early stage

Comprehensive medical, dental, vision

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

AdAstra Talent Advisors represents a client in San Francisco, CA, seeking a Radar Product Lead to translate customer missions into buildable radar requirements and own the associated specifications. You will work with the Head of Radar to turn proposals into actionable definitions for engineering and ensure alignment across R&D, hardware, software, and customers.

You will lead requirements reviews, drive verification planning, and shape the product roadmap while handling system-level tradeoffs

Qualifications

• Ability to translate customer mission into buildable radar requirements.
• Strong writing and communication skills for requirements reviews and customer briefings.
• Experience owning radar specifications (SRD/PRD/system spec).
• Proven ability to run trade studies and derive design decisions.
• Experience defining targets, coverage, thresholds, and verification matrices.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer missions into clear, buildable radar requirements.
• Define target sets and performance thresholds with customers.
• Break proposals and CONOPS into product definitions for engineering.
• Own the system requirements document and verification matrix.
• Run trade studies and provide clear recommendations.
• Scope configurations of antenna platforms for different missions.

Skills

Radar depth

Requirements management

Technical writing

Customer collaboration

Trade studies

Education

Electrical/Systems Engineering degree

Job description

AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client based in San Francisco, CA.

About the Company:

Our client is a Series A-backed startup building a new class of distributed sensing systems enabled by modern RF, communications, and real-time processing infrastructure.

Traditional sensing systems are often expensive, centralized, and increasingly vulnerable in modern operating environments. Our client is taking a different approach, developing systems designed to be more scalable, resilient, and deployable across a wide range of conditions.

Recent advances in satellite and communications infrastructure have created a meaningful shift in the availability of RF signals globally. Our client is leveraging these conditions to enable sensing capabilities that were previously impractical to deploy at scale.

The long‑term vision is a low-cost, distributed sensing layer that can be deployed broadly rather than relying on a small number of high‑cost systems. This enables more persistent awareness, greater resilience, and new capabilities across defense and commercial applications.

They are now in a rapid build phase, with a government‑funded demonstration underway and their first custom hardware in development, backed by top‑tier venture investors and strong interest from defense and commercial stakeholders.

This is a unique opportunity to join at the ground floor of a high‑caliber founding team composed of former SpaceX and Capella engineers, building a system with real traction.

This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client of AdAstra Talent Advisors. This position is based in San Francisco, CA, with the D.C. area considered. More company details will be shared during an initial call.

About the Role

Our client is seeking a Radar Product Lead to define what their novel radar system needs to do, and for whom.

This role owns the translation from customer mission to buildable requirements, including coverage, detection range, target classes, update rates, track accuracy, false‑alarm limits, latency to C2, and siting constraints.

This is a highly technical, customer‑facing role built around requirements ownership and product definition. You will know the difference between a fieldable spec and a wish list, and be able to explain where every requirement comes from.

You will work closely with the company's Head of Radar, who leads the science and R&D. Once a customer funds a proposal, you will break the architecture and CONOPS into product definitions and requirements the engineering team can build to, working alongside engineers every day and keeping R&D, engineering, and customers speaking the same language.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer missions (air surveillance, counter-UAS, cruise missile defense, homeland air defense) into clear, buildable radar requirements
• Define target sets and performance thresholds vs. objectives with customers, knowing where there's room to trade and where there isn't
• Break funded proposals, architectures, and CONOPS into product definitions the engineering team can build to
• Own the system requirements document, including requirements flow‑down, derived requirements, and the verification matrix
• Run trade studies (coverage vs. cost, node count vs. accuracy, update rate vs. compute) and turn the results into clear recommendations
• Scope product configurations of the core antenna platform (tiled, vehicle‑mounted, networked) for different missions and customers
• Work directly with operators, program offices, and customers to run requirements reviews and bring the voice of the customer back to the team
• Shape requirements beyond the sensor: software, reliability, C2 integration, servicing, and deployment
• Turn field test results into requirement changes and roadmap decisions
• Partner daily with engineering and the Head of Radar to keep R&D, engineering, and customer needs aligned

Requirements

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience
• 8–15 years of relevant radar industry experience at a defense prime, radar house, or government or research organization
• Experience working at the system or program level, beyond a single component or subsystem
• Experience writing or owning a radar specification (SRD, PRD, or system spec), including derived requirements and a verification matrix
• Experience defining target sets, coverage volumes, and thresholds vs. objectives directly with a customer or program office
• Experience running trade studies and turning results into requirement or design decisions
• Ability to translate field and test results into requirement changes and roadmap decisions
• Strong technical depth in radar performance (detection budgets, Pd/Pfa, track accuracy), paired with the ability to lead requirements reviews with customers
• Ability to trace requirements back to mission needs and distinguish thresholds from objectives
• Ability to collaborate across R&D, hardware, software, and customer‑facing teams
• Strong technical writing and communication skills, from requirements documents to customer briefings

Preferred Experience

• Passive radar experience is a plus (passive coherent location, multistatic, illuminators of opportunity), including familiarity with the competitive landscape
• Experience with mobile, expeditionary, or counter-UAS radar programs
• Familiarity with how radars are evaluated and acquired (KPPs/KSAs, CDD/CPD, JCIDS, OTA milestones, DT/OT criteria)
• Exposure to C2 integration (IBCS, FAAD C2, Link 16, JADC2)
• Direct work with Army AMD, Air Force, NORTHCOM, MDA, CBP, or allied equivalents
• Background as a radar product manager, requirements lead, systems or mission engineer, program engineer or technical program manager, capture or solutions architect, or IAMD requirements officer
• Active or prior security clearance
• Comfortable with shifting requirements in an early‑stage environment, with interest in building the product function as the team scales

Logistical Requirements

• This position is on-site in San Francisco, CA, with the D.C. area as a secondary option
• This role requires U.S. citizenship.

Cash compensation of $200,000 – $275,000 per year plus meaningful early‑stage ownership grant. Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay may vary based on job‑related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities, and internal equity.

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage through a Blue Shield Platinum PPO plan
• Low‑cost primary care and specialist visits, with no referral required
• Preventive care, prenatal visits, and children's dental and vision covered at no cost
• 401(k) retirement savings plan

Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.