Senior Research Scientist - Network Systems

Peraton; Basking Ridge (NJ); On-site; USD 146,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Life insurance

Health Savings Account

Short/long term disability

401(k)

Paid time off

Parental leave

Company holidays

Job summary

Peraton is a next-generation national security company delivering mission-critical IT and research solutions. We are seeking an experienced RF Communications & Signal Processing and ML specialist to join Peraton Labs in New Jersey to advance defense and cyber capabilities.

You will work on challenging projects spanning 5G, spectrum analysis, DSP, and ML pipelines, collaborating with government partners and ensuring secure, reliable systems.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related discipline.
• Minimum of 12 years of experience; 10 years with MS/MA; 7 years with Ph.D.
• US Citizenship required.
• Experience spanning RF/signal processing and machine learning domains.
• Active security clearance or ability to obtain one.

Responsibilities

• Research RF communications theory and spectrum analysis.
• Develop ML pipelines for signal data and analytics.
• Collaborate on defense and cyber projects with government partners.
• Perform compressive sensing and sub-Nyquist techniques.
• Publish results and present to stakeholders.

Skills

RF theory

DSP experience

Compressive sensing

ML algorithms

PyTorch

TensorFlow/Keras

scikit-learn

Python

C/C++

Git

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

US Citizenship

Tools

Docker

Linux

MATLAB

Job description

Peraton Overview

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can’t be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re keeping people around the world safe and secure.

Responsibilities

Peraton Labs delivers innovative solutions and revolutionary new capabilities to solve the most difficult and complex challenges for government agencies, utilities, and commercial customers. With a distinguished heritage tracing back to Bell Labs, Bellcore, and Telcordia, our experts pave the way. Peraton Labs' cybersecurity and network research protects mission-critical systems and national cyber infrastructure and efficiently utilizes spectrum and system resources by employing technologies in the areas of computer network defense, secure-by-design, AI/ML and deterministic and stochastic optimization.

Our projects span several areas of interest. Our core competencies include (but are not limited to):

• Networking and wireless research including 5G and non-terrestrial networks


• Cyber Security including formal methods, side channel analysis, high-fidelity emulation of cyber physical systems (CPS)


• Resilient networking in support of cyber mission goals


• Software-defined networking for cyber defense and deception


• Artificial intelligence (reasoning, probabilistic inference, machine learning)

Qualifications

Required Job Skills

RF Communications & Signal Processing

• Strong foundation in RF communications theory, including modulation/demodulation, propagation, link budgets, and spectrum analysis


• Hands-on experience with digital signal processing (DSP) — filtering, FFT/spectral analysis, detection, estimation, and adaptive algorithms


• Demonstrated expertise in compressive sensing, including sparse signal recovery, L1/L2 optimization, sensing matrix design, and sub-Nyquist sampling techniques

Machine Learning & Data Applications

• Proficiency designing and implementing ML algorithms (supervised, unsupervised, deep learning, reinforcement learning) with emphasis on signal/time-series data


• Experience building end-to-end ML pipelines — data ingestion, preprocessing, feature engineering, training, validation, deployment, and monitoring


• Knowledge of ML architectures including CNNs, RNNs/LSTMs, transformers, autoencoders, and GANs, with applied experience selecting the right model for RF/signal and data analytic problems


• Strong data analytics skills: exploratory analysis, statistical modeling, visualization, and deriving actionable insight from large/complex datasets


• Hands-on with frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow/Keras, scikit-learn, and data tooling (NumPy, pandas, Spark)


• Experience with MLOps practices — version control, containerization (Docker), CI/CD, experiment tracking (MLflow, W&B), and model serving

Programming & Tools

• Strong programming skills in Python and C/C++; MATLAB a plus


• Version control (Git), Linux development environment, and scripting proficiency

Education & Experience & Citizenship

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related discipline and a minimum of 12 years of experience; Minimum of 10 years with MS/MA; Minimum of 7 years with Ph.D.


• Demonstrated project or publication record spanning both RF/signal processing and machine learning domains


• US Citizenship

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• Experience applying ML to RF problems: signal classification, spectrum sensing, RFI mitigation, cognitive radio, direction finding, or emitter identification


• Background in DoD / IC programs, EW, SIGINT, or radar systems


• Active security clearance (or ability to get one)

Soft Skills

• Clear technical communication — able to translate algorithms to implementation and results to stakeholders, and write technical papers and reports


• Self-directed, with experience taking prototypes from concept through demonstration

Target Salary Range

$146,000 - $234,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

Benefits Statement

Peraton offers eligible employees a variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, health savings account, short/long term disability, EAP, parental leave, 401(k), paid time off (PTO) for vacation, and company paid holidays. A full listing of available benefits can be viewed athttps://www.careers.peraton.com/benefits.

EEO

EEO: Equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veterans, or other characteristics protected by law.