Senior Communications Systems Engineer

Socket.dev; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k match

Free daily lunch

No meeting Fridays

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

CHAOS Industries is seeking a Communications Systems Engineer to own the connectivity backbone of fielded systems, including 5G/cellular, SATCOM, and mesh radios. You will drive verifiable requirements, architectures, and interfaces from factory test to field deployment, ensuring readiness for international operations.

This full-time onsite role in Hawthorne, CA requires strong systems engineering discipline, trade studies, and collaboration with vendors and customers to deliver robust

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Aerospace, Systems, Computer Engineering or related technical field.
• 7+ years in systems engineering for SATCOM or wireless connectivity products.
• Experience developing and verifying system/subsystem/interface requirements.
• Knowledge of SATCOM/RF, LTE/5G, and Starlink terminals.
• Experience with requirements management and traceability.

Responsibilities

• Translate mission and customer needs into verifiable system requirements.
• Develop connectivity architectures across cellular/5G, SATCOM, wireless, and mesh networks.
• Perform RF link budgets and regulatory compliance assessments.
• Lead trade studies on performance, weight, cost, and availability.
• Support integration, testing, and field deployment with cross-functional teams.

Skills

SATCOM

RF communications

Systems engineering

Requirements tracing

Python scripting

Education

Bachelor’s in Electrical/Aerospace/Systems Engineering

Master’s in related field (preferred)

Tools

Cameo/MBSE

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

Role Overview

As a Communications Systems Engineer, you will own the connectivity backbone of CHAOS's fielded systems — 5G/cellular, SATCOM (e.g. Starlink), point-to-point wireless, and tactical mesh radios. You will bring rigorous systems engineering practice to the comms domain: verifiable requirements with traceability, defined architectures and interfaces, disciplined trade studies, and verification from factory test through field deployment. Your mission is to ensure every communications solution is selected, qualified, validated, and ready for field deployment.

You will also keep CHAOS ahead of the pace of commercial and tactical comms innovation, continuously scanning the landscape for emerging technologies — new radios, waveforms, multi-orbit SATCOM constellations, and software-defined networking approaches — and driving the most promising into the product baseline. This role is full-time onsite at our office in Hawthorne, CA.

Responsibilities

Systems Engineering

• Translate mission, customer, and business needs into verifiable, traceable system and subsystem requirements for connectivity
• Develop and maintain connectivity architectures, interfaces, design descriptions, and ICDs across cellular/5G, SATCOM (LEO/MEO/GEO), point-to-point wireless, and tactical mesh networks
• Perform design analysis and verification — RF link budgets, key performance parameters (EIRP, G/T, C/N₀, Eb/N₀, throughput), antenna placement and pointing, handover behavior, and regulatory compliance
• Lead trade studies weighing performance, size/weight/power, cost, availability, and compliance — including forward-looking needs such as non-line-of-sight links, elevated relays, and GPS-denied synchronization

Hardware Selection & Qualification

• Evaluate, select, and qualify comms hardware (cell modems, SATCOM terminals, P2P dishes, mesh radios) for field robustness and regional compatibility — verifying RF bands, regulatory suitability, and export/AT compliance before purchase or baseline, and managing regional variants in the product BOM
• Collaborate with suppliers, satellite operators, and service providers to develop and integrate connectivity solutions

Integration & Test

• Integrate comms equipment into factory test plans with clear pass/fail criteria, and establish pre-ship verification on representative system hardware with in-country SIMs and bands
• Support system integration, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis from lab through field deployment — driving corrective actions into the baseline; participate in technical reviews and embed with product scrums to verify baseline compatibility

Deployment & Field Support

• Own the tested connectivity matrix across deployment countries (cellular bands, SATCOM legality and plans, spectrum constraints, validated fallbacks) along with configuration baselines and runbooks for all comms peripherals, in partnership with FDE, Mission, and IT
• Provide reach-back support to deployed teams during international demos and operations, with occasional travel to deployment sites

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline
• 7+ years of experience in systems engineering supporting SATCOM, wireless communications, tactical networking, or connectivity products
• Experience developing, managing, and verifying system, subsystem, and interface requirements throughout the product lifecycle
• Working knowledge of SATCOM and RF communications systems, including satellite link analysis, antenna systems, and modem/RF chain fundamentals
• Working knowledge of cellular technologies and international band plans (LTE/5G NR), and practical experience with satellite internet terminals (e.g., Starlink)
• Strong understanding of IP networking concepts, including routing, switching, network protocols, VPNs, failover, and connectivity architectures
• Experience performing RF link budget analysis, antenna placement optimization, and line-of-sight/NLOS analysis in complex terrain
• Experience developing hardware test procedures and pass/fail criteria for production or integration environments
• Experience collaborating with customers, suppliers, and cross-functional engineering teams on complex technical programs
• Excellent problem-solving skills and a bias toward root cause over workaround

Preferred Requirements

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline
• Experience with tactical mesh radios (e.g., MPU5/Wave Relay) and 60 GHz / 5 GHz P2P systems
• Familiarity with multi-orbit constellations (LEO/MEO/GEO), beam/satellite handover, and ground network integration
• Experience designing or integrating secure communications architectures, including authentication, encryption, VPNs, certificate management, and secure remote connectivity
• Experience analyzing communications performance in contested, degraded, or denied environments, including multi-path, interference, jamming, and dynamic network topology
• Experience with requirements management, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), and/or Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools such as Cameo, including multi-level requirements sets and traceability
• Familiarity with export control and supply-chain compliance considerations for communications hardware (e.g., country-of-origin restrictions)
• Scripting for test automation and network validation (Python, Bash)
• INCOSE certification or demonstrated application of systems engineering best practices
• Experience in a rapid-iteration hardware production environment
• Experience supporting international deployments of communications equipment, including regional regulatory and spectrum considerations
• Active or eligible U.S. security clearance

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 350 employees and counting across 5 global offices

$140k-176k

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

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