Radar System Design Expert

Assured Space Access, Inc; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) with company matching

Paid time off

Job summary

Assured Space Access Technologies, Inc. seeks a Senior Radar System Designer to own radar design from top down, coordinating performance, architecture, budgets, and trade studies across antenna, RF front end, digital receiver, and signal processing.

You will work on-site in Irvine with the GBR group, build models, run analyses, review designs, and defend numbers with customers in a hands-on senior IC role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of radar systems engineering experience (fielded or flight-tested).
• Deep knowledge of radar fundamentals: range equation, detection, waveform design, and clutter.
• Experience with phased arrays or electronically scanned radars.
• Proficiency in radar performance models using MATLAB/Python.
• Ability to defend design decisions in formal design reviews.
• Ability to obtain and maintain U.S. Secret clearance and work on-site in Irvine.

Responsibilities

• Define radar system architecture, operating modes, and performance requirements.
• Develop and own radar performance models: range, detection, false alarms, sensitivity.
• Lead system-level trade studies across waveform, aperture, power, and thermal limits.
• Specify requirements for antennas, transmit/receive modules, and signal processing.
• Analyze waveform design, Doppler processing, clutter, and interference considerations.
• Define verification approaches, test plans, and field testing criteria.
• Mentor engineers, brief customers, and support proposals with performance analyses.

Skills

Radar systems engineering

System-level design

Radar fundamentals

Phased array radar

Trade studies

Clearance eligibility

On-site Irvine work

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Physics

Tools

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Assured Space Access Technologies, Inc. is a defense and engineering firm delivering phased array, radar, RF payload, and secure communications solutions to government and prime contractor customers. We are headquartered in Irvine, California. Our Ground-Based Radar program is building an advanced phased array radar, and we are adding a Senior Radar System Designer to the on-site engineering team.

Team

Engineering, Ground-Based Radar (GBR), Systems Engineering

Location

Irvine, CA (on-site)

Employment Type

Full-Time, Exempt

Base Salary Range

$170,000 – $230,000 per year

Clearance

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. An active clearance is preferred.

Position Summary

As the Radar System Design Expert, you are the senior technical authority on how the Ground-Based Radar works as a system. You own the radar design from the top down: performance requirements, system architecture, link and detection budgets, and trade studies that connect the antenna, RF front end, digital receiver and exciter, signal processing, power, and cooling into one radar that meets its mission.

You will work on site in Irvine with the GBR Product Chief Engineer, systems engineers, and discipline leads, and you will be the person the team turns to when a design decision affects radar performance. This is a hands-on, senior individual contributor seat: you will build models, run analyses, review designs, and stand behind the numbers with customers.

Key Responsibilities

Radar System Architecture and Performance

• Define and maintain the radar system architecture, operating modes, and performance requirements, and flow them down to subsystems.
• Develop and own radar performance models: range equation, detection and false alarm performance, sensitivity, accuracy, and timeline and resource budgets.
• Lead system-level trade studies across waveform, aperture, transmit power, receiver noise figure, dynamic range, and thermal and power constraints.

Design and Analysis

• Specify requirements for the phased array antenna, transmit/receive modules, digital receiver/exciter, beamforming, and signal and data processing.
• Analyze waveform design, pulse compression, Doppler processing, clutter, interference, and electronic protection considerations.
• Review subsystem designs and test data to confirm they close against system-level performance.

Integration, Test, and Verification

• Define radar-level verification approaches, test plans, and success criteria for integration and field testing.
• Analyze integration and field test data, diagnose performance shortfalls, and drive corrective design changes.
• Support calibration, alignment, and performance characterization of the integrated radar.

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the radar design authority in design reviews and mentor systems and discipline engineers.
• Brief customers, partners, and leadership on radar design, performance, and risk.
• Support proposals and technical volumes with radar performance analysis and design approaches.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of radar systems engineering experience, including system-level design of a fielded or flight-tested radar.
• Deep working knowledge of radar fundamentals: the radar range equation, detection theory, waveform design, pulse compression, Doppler processing, and clutter.
• Experience with phased array or electronically scanned array radars, including array architecture and beam management.
• Proficiency in building radar performance models in MATLAB, Python, or similar tools.
• Experience leading trade studies and defending design decisions in formal design reviews.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship.
• Ability to work on site in Irvine, CA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering or Physics.
• Active Secret or higher security clearance.
• Experience with ground-based air and missile defense, counter-UAS, or surveillance radars.
• Experience with digital beamforming and modern digital receiver/exciter architectures.
• Hands-on radar integration and field test experience.
• Experience at both a large defense prime and a smaller, fast-moving company.

What we offer

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; 401(k) with company matching; and paid time off.
• Professional development support, including technical conferences and training.
• Senior technical ownership of a radar program in a growing defense technology company, with direct access to the CTO and leadership.

Equal Opportunity

Assured Space Access Technologies, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Compensation Range

$170K - $230K