Staff RF Signal Processing Engineer

CHAOS Industries; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k with company match

Relocation assistance

Unlimited PTO

Annual bonuses

Job summary

CHAOS Industries seeks a Senior RF Signal Processing Software Engineer to advance electromagnetic warfare systems. You will develop DSP algorithms to detect, classify, and geolocate RF emissions, and integrate software with SDR hardware. Collaboration with multiple teams and field demos are key parts of the role.

The position requires 5+ years of experience, a relevant engineering degree, and the ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

Qualifications

• B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of relevant development experience.
• Experience with RF sensing systems (active or passive).
• Experience with recorded and synthetic I/Q data.
• Strong signal processing fundamentals: FFT, filtering, cyclostationary analysis.
• Proficiency in Python, C++, and MATLAB for algorithm development.
• Experience with SDRs and related toolkits.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
• On-site work 3-5 days/week in Hawthorne, CA or Washington, DC; travel up to 30%.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and refine advanced DSP algorithms to detect and track RF signals.
• Integrate signal processing software with RF/SDR hardware and host platforms.
• Collaborate with Business Development and Production to demonstrate technology.
• Contribute to modelling, testing, and field demonstrations of the radar sensing system.

Skills

DSP algorithms

RF sensing

FFT analyses

Matched filtering

Cyclostationary analysis

Python

C++

MATLAB

I/Q data

SDR experience

Signal processing integration

Technical documentation

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or related field

M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field

Tools

SDR toolkits

RFSOC hardware

Job description

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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

We are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Senior RF Signal Processing Software Engineer to contribute to the successful development of our electromagnetic warfare product line. This role is critical to transforming our radar systems into sensing systems that detect, classify, and geolocate all RF emissions in the environment using advanced digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms. The Senior Engineer will contribute to the Spectrum Sensing Team in the development of algorithms, modeling, software integration, and the execution of field demonstrations of the technology. They will collaborate closely with Business Development, Production, and other Engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and refine advanced DSP algorithms to detect, identify, and track RF signals.
• Integrate and test signal processing software with underlying RF/SDR hardware and host processing platforms.
• B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of relevant development experience.
• Experience working with RF sensing systems (active or passive) and advanced signal processing techniques.
• Experience working with recorded I/Q data and generating synthetic I/Q data.
• Strong theoretical understanding and practical application of signal processing techniques (e.g., FFT analyses, matched filtering, cyclostationary analysis).
• Proficiency in programming languages like Python, C++, or MATLAB for algorithm development and integration into current code base.
• Experience with software defined radios (SDR) and associated signal processing toolkits.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly document technical details and present findings.
• Must be able to work on-site 3-5 days per week in Hawthorne, CA or Washington, D.C.
• Role will require periodic travel, up to 30%.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Preferred Requirements

• M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Current U.S. security clearance.
• Expertise in cyclostationary signal processing.
• Demonstrated experience identifying commercial and non-commercial communication waveforms.
• Expertise with electromagnetic spectrum sensing and classification techniques (e.g., machine learning for signal classification).
• Experience implementing signal processing algorithms for tactical applications.
• Experience implementing signal processing algorithms on RFSOC hardware.
• Experience with agile development tools like JIRA and Confluence.
• Experience in DoD, military, or other Government environment performing in a related subject area (e.g., engineering, computer science, etc.) in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

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.

Salary Range: $180,000 - $230,000

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.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

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

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