RF and DSP Engineer

Guardian RF Corporation; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian RF is seeking a RF engineer to join a small engineering team at Guardian RF. You will build and tune DSP detection for drone RF links, configure antennas and frontends, and validate performance with field data.

The role emphasizes hands-on learning, ownership, and collaboration on deployments across utilities, ports, and airports. A recent EE graduate with lab experience in VNA, spectrum analyzers, and SDR is encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• Pursuing or recent graduate in electrical engineering with coursework in signals and systems, DSP, communications, electromagnetics or microwave engineering.
• Experience using a VNA, spectrum analyzer or SDR in a lab or internship.
• Programming experience in Python and/or C/C++. MATLAB experience welcome.
• Willingness to learn by building and testing and take ownership on a small engineering team.
• Extras: RF internship, ham license, SDR projects using HackRF, USRP or GNU Radio, drone experience, antenna or PCB design, or ability to obtain a US security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Build and tune DSP detection and classification for drone RF links, improve track quality, and validate results against recorded field data.
• Configure antennas, filtering, LNAs and amplifiers for deployments, including filtered frontends that improve track fidelity at noisy urban sites.
• Develop link budgets and cascade analyses, measure hardware with VNAs and spectrum analyzers, and validate performance with real drones at deployment sites.

Skills

DSP

Python

C/C++

MATLAB

RF fundamentals

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering

Tools

VNA

Spectrum Analyzer

SDR

GNURadio

HackRF

USRP

Job description

Guardian RF is a YC company building passive RF drone detection and attribution. Our sensors listen for drone control and video links, detect and classify them on the node, and stream detections to DroneView, our cloud platform for alerts and detecting drone activity. Our sensors run at utilities, ports, law enforcement agencies, universities and airports. Guardian RF is deployed across installations with the DoW. We are hiring a RF engineer.

What You Will Work On

• Build and tune DSP detection and classification for drone RF links, improve track quality, and validate results against recorded field data.
• Configure antennas, filtering, LNAs and amplifiers for individual deployments, including filtered frontends that improve track fidelity at noisy urban sites.
• Develop link budgets and cascade analyses, measure hardware with VNAs and spectrum analyzers, and validate performance with real drones at deployment sites.

What We Are Looking For

• A college senior or recent graduate in electrical engineering or a related field, with coursework in signals and systems, DSP, communications, electromagnetics or microwave engineering.
• Experience using a VNA, spectrum analyzer or SDR in a lab or internship.
• Programming experience in Python and/or C/C++. MATLAB experience is also welcome.
• Someone who learns by building and testing and wants ownership on a small engineering team.
• Helpful extras include an RF internship, a ham license, SDR projects using HackRF, USRP or GNU Radio, drone experience, antenna or PCB design, or the ability to obtain a US security clearance.