Senior Engineer (Electrical)

Radar System Architect About the Role We've already proven the concept of a counter-UAV radar sensor with a first-generation prototype. This role owns the redesign that carries those lessons into a production-grade sensor, architected from requirements up, with the systems planning to do it right. You'll also own the system architecture, from the waveform, detection strategy to the system-level requirements and budgets that define it. You'll drive the RF chain and transceiver architecture hand-in-hand with the antenna engineer, converging on what's actually feasible to build while setting the DSP chain direction. Your success is our success - make your mark with Valkyrie Dynamics. • Location: Remote/Hybrid • Hybrid: Must be able to temporary travel to Kyiv for on-site testing is heavily preferred (all expenses paid) — system bring-up and field validation against real targets, correlating measured performance against the model. What You’ll Do • Own the radar waveform and detection strategy • Chirp/FMCW design • Range-Doppler processing detection budgets (SNR, integration, CFAR) • Angle estimation to detect small, low-RCS UAV targets at high closing velocity • Define and maintain the system-level requirements and budgets • Detection range, range/Doppler/angular resolution, update rate, power, thermal, and size • Write verifiable requirements so that meeting them validates the sensor • Evaluate approaches across the integration spectrum, cascaded transceiver ICs, an integrated system-on-module, or a discrete RF front-end • Collaborate with the antenna engineer on a viable solution for channel count, LO/clock distribution, and phase-coherence strategy across the array • Own and control the interfaces between subsystems • Ensure end-to-end signal chain from antenna to detection output holds together as one coherent system including: • Timing and synchronization (frame/trigger) • Transceiver-to-compute data path (sample rates, formats, latency/throughput) • RF/antenna boundary • Own and continuously evolve the system model — effectively a digital twin of the sensor. During the evolution: • Maintain ICDs • Meet and manage performance metrics • Grow model fidelity over time, introducing the non-idealities and non-linearities that matter as complexity increases (phase noise, PA compression, quantization, channel mismatch, mutual coupling), and trace observed behavior back to the origin. • Collaborate with the DSP engineer on the waveform and detection design • You lead the strategy, they own the implementation and pressure-test it for compute load, memory, and timeline — until the architecture is both performant and buildable • Converge the open architecture questions to decisions on a schedule • Committing with the evidence available, revisiting only when new data (a budget, a measurement) actually changes the answer Required Qualifications • Radar systems you’ve architected and shipped end-to-end — from waveform and detection through the RF chain • Strong grounding in radar detection theory • FMCW/chirp waveforms, range-Doppler processing, CFAR and SNR/integration, and angle estimation • Target-tracking fluency to set the requirements (update rate, track accuracy) • Hands-on MATLAB for system-level radar modeling (Radar Toolbox) — you’ve built and evolved system models, not just read their output • Track record personally owning and closing the quantitative budgets • Link and detection budgets above all — and holding the design to them • RF chain architecture experience with multi-channel/MIMO transceivers and the coherence challenges of scaling channel count, from LO/clock distribution to phase alignment across the array • Able to work independently on a contract basis • Must pass company security procedures • Must communicate effectively in English Preferred / Bonus • Counter-UAV or defense radar experience specifically — small, low-RCS, maneuvering targets in cluttered environments • Hands