Real-Time C/C++ Software Engineer

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 114,000 - 164,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Tuition reimbursement

Paid time off

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory invites applications for an Associate Staff real-time C/C++ software engineer in the Air Traffic Control and Weather Systems Group in Lexington, MA. You will design, develop, test, and integrate real-time weather radar processing software, contributing across the software stack and collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.

The role emphasizes strong C/C++ skills, MATLAB familiarity, and experience with signal processing and parallelization on CPUs/GPUs, with

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with 2+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree with 0+ years; or equivalent
• Strong technical depth with ability to apply knowledge independently
• Experience contributing to technical documentation, analyses, reports, or project deliverables
• Ability to communicate technical information clearly to varied audiences
• Demonstrated mentoring potential and ability to guide others

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, data analysis, programming, modeling, simulation, integration, testing, troubleshooting and evaluation activities within programs
• Apply technical depth to less-defined problems, adapt approaches and evaluate trade-offs
• Contribute to system-, subsystem-, or component-level work across disciplines
• Develop and integrate technical documentation, analyses, and program deliverables
• Coordinate milestones, dependencies, risks, and present findings and recommendations
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship while deepening mission-aligned expertise

Skills

C/C++

MATLAB

Real-time software

Signal processing

GPU programming

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master’s degree or PhD

Tools

CUDA

rocFFT

Python

Job description

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The Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Weather Systems Group develops and deploys advanced technologies to enable safe, efficient & secure transportation systems. Focus areas include advanced weather sensing and forecasting systems; ATC decision support systems; and cybersecurity and resiliency. The Group has broad expertise which permits end-to-end advanced technology development and prototyping in all these areas, as well as the agility to respond to emerging threats and opportunities. Extensive field evaluations and simulation studies are employed to elicit user needs, ensure user acceptance and to enable the successful transition of new technologies into operational use. Key accomplishments of the Group include the development of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, and deployment of decision support systems at numerous ATC and commercial airline facilities in the United States and beyond. The Brand New ATC System is an emerging near-term opportunity.

Job Overview

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Associate Staff provide critical multi-domain through expert multi-domain innovative research supporting the Laboratory’s national security mission. They prototype state-of-the-art technology solutions and engage in many steps of a program lifecycle with increasing independence and responsibility. As an Associate Staff member, you will contribute independently to multidisciplinary efforts, contribute to sponsor briefings, write test plans and reports, and apply complex and creative solutions to solving technical problems. You may own discrete project/program components or lead complex workstreams and small teams.

As a successful candidate, you will bring solid to strong technical depth, broaden your understanding across adjacent disciplines, and adapt approaches where precedent is limited. You will integrate technical inputs, contribute to program documentation and reporting, and collaborate with interdisciplinary project/program teams supporting projects that may range from rapid, high-risk efforts to longer-term mission programs. Your work will include multiple activities such as hardware and software development, systems analysis, data analysis, component fabrication, system integration, testing, and documentation.

Additional Job Overview Details

The Air Traffic Control and Weather Systems Group is looking for a real-time C/C++ software engineer who can contribute to the development of a replacement for the ASR-9 Weather System Processor (WSP) that is currently deployed at 34 operational sites and provides safety-critical alerts to Air Traffic Controllers on low altitude wind-shear and microburst conditions that may be dangerous to aircraft approaching an airport. The ASR-9 and WSP are being replaced by new radars as part of the Brand-New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) and the WSP software, plus a new signal processing aspect, need to be made operational on this new system within a year. The scope of the project includes design, development, and testing of real-time signal processing software based on weather radar algorithms, developed initially in MATLAB, that ingest received in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) data samples from a radar receiver and generate weather base data (reflectivity, radial velocity, and spectrum width). The software engineer would participate in the C++ side of the software architecture and the design, implementation, and testing of the real-time prototype system. Experience in real-time, large-scale signal processing is preferred, particularly with knowledge of massive parallelization of FFTs on CPUs and GPUs.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Own or lead design, development, data analysis, programming, modeling, simulation, integration, testing, troubleshooting, and technical evaluation activities within broader project or program efforts.
• Apply technical depth and judgment to less-defined and complex problems, identifying appropriate methods, adapting established approaches, and evaluating trade-offs.
• Contribute to or lead system-, subsystem-, or component-level work spanning multiple disciplines, mission needs, products, or technical focus areas.
• Develop, review, and integrate technical documentation, analyses, design materials, program reporting, presentations, papers, and other deliverables.
• Coordinate milestones, assumptions, dependencies, quality expectations, and risks and present findings, recommendations, and alternatives to appropriate audiences.
• Provide technical guidance, review, feedback, and mentorship while continuing to deepen mission-aligned expertise.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates will be considered for the appropriate level based on their education, experience, demonstrated technical capabilities, leadership responsibilities, and the scope and complexity of their prior work.

Level 3 – Associate Staff

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 2+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 0+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Solid technical depth in a primary engineering, research, or other technical domain, with the ability to apply knowledge independently.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and manage components of project work.
• Experience contributing to technical documentation, analyses, reports, presentations, or project deliverables.
• Ability to collaborate across project teams and communicate technical information clearly to appropriate audiences.
• Emerging ability to guide less experienced colleagues and contribute to team capability development.

Level 4 – Associate Staff

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 4+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 2+ years of relevant experience; a PhD may be considered; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong technical depth in a primary domain with emerging breadth across related engineering, research, technical disciplines, or mission areas.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and lead components of projects or technical workstreams.
• Experience managing milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables for assigned project areas.
• Ability to communicate complex information to varied audiences and collaborate with project teams, sponsors, and internal partners.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor others, review work, and contribute to team technical capability.

Additional Minimum Qualifications

Proficiency in C/C++, familiarity with MATLAB

Demonstrated experience in signal processing software development

Demonstrated experience with C/C++ real-time libraries, particularly for signal processing, FFTs, and parallelization

Experience with GPU libraries for signal processing and parallelized FFT processing (e.g., CUDA, rocFFT for AMD, etc.)

Experience with modern software DevSecOps pipelines

Strong communication and teaming skills

Preferred Qualifications

Proficiency working with Python-based AI and machine learning software packages: NumPy, Tensorflow, Keras, PyTorch, Scikit-learn

Associate Staff 3 Hiring Range:$114,000 - $148,000
Associate Staff 4 Hiring Range:$124,000 - $164,000

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—but 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.

At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, our exceptional career opportunities include many outstanding benefits to help you stay healthy, feel supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work-life balance. Benefits offered to employees include:

• 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

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.