RF Signal Engineer SME

SAIC is seeking an RF Signal Engineer Subject Matter Expert (SME) to join the Space and Intelligence Business Group. You would work on a joint Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) crown jewel program providing highly specialized space/counter-space engineering, scientific, and analytical services from Aurora, Colorado. We support the Nation’s leading edge IC and DoD space programs and offer compelling, deep-technical work that has direct influence and impact on program development and operations. Our team has SMEs across a variety of disciplines, including physics, math, RF, optics, space acquisition and operations, and intelligence collection and analysis.

This Signal Engineering SME will work in a collaborative team-focused environment of U.S. Government civilians and contractors solving applied technical problems and developing usable solutions for multiple space-related capabilities and threats. The ideal candidate will have:

• Domain expert-level knowledge and experience with space systems RF engineering, operations, space threats and protection
• Deep experience in space tracking radar phenomenology, RF payload operations, or signal extraction and processing
• Extensive experience with IC and/or DoD satellite systems in Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or Special Access Program (SAP) environments

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Conducting specialized technical studies related to radar systems, targets, and data products to provide assessments and actionable solutions for program managers or satellite owner/operators
• Leading and participating in complex physics-based modeling, simulation and analysis, and conducting technical trades
• Ability to conceptualize, synthesize, analyze, and assess the performance of specialized RF communications signals between satellites and ground stations using state-of-the-art signal processing analytic techniques
• Maintenance and use of specialized hardware and software designed for the detection of low power signals in high noise environments running under a LINUX operating system
• Modeling and assessment of RF transmission and reception parameters such as antenna patterns, signal-to-noise ratios, noise uncertainty, signal strength, bit error rates, among others, to perform link budget analyses and probability of detect calculations
• Participating in the collection and analysis of test and experimental signals in laboratory and real-world environments, serving as lead when requested
• Assess the risk of detecting specific low power signals in high noise environments from threat and non-threat systems
• Achieving detailed understanding of multiple satellite systems, designs, operations and classifications to make design or Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) recommendations
• Developing and maintaining in-depth knowledge of U.S. Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities, as well as Foreign SDA capabilities and counter-space threats with an emphasis on RF systems
• Participating and representing the customer in various Government and contractor meetings and attending contractor programmatic and technical reviews (e.g. PMR, PDR, CDR, etc.) to provide technical recommendations and risk assessments
• Frequently interacting with program managers, SETAs, FFRDCs and external stakeholders
• Developing productive relationships with the Program Office, Prime, and Subcontract counterparts, functional IC or DoD counterparts, and other SMEs

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, or mathematics and 18 or more years of direct experience with space radars, RF signal processing and/or satellite communication systems
• Active TS/SCI Clearance with Special Access eligibility and consent to a Counter Intelligence (CI) polygraph. US Citizenship is required
• Proven experience in analytic problem-solving relating to the exploitation of radar data of space-objects, including familiarity with radar data products, signal processing techniques, and scattering phenomenology
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with experience conveying technical concepts, results, and summaries to internal customers, external customers, and stakeholders of diverse technical backgrounds
• Demonstrated record of effective individual and group work behaviors, with abilities to proactively initiate and operate in dynamic and incompletely defined environments
• Fluent in specialized software tools or programming languages relevant for space system analyses, such as MATLAB, Python, C++, Fortran, and MS  Excel

Strongly Desired Skills:

• Master’s or Doctorate Degree in RF Engineering, Signal Processing, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics
• Experience in satellite development factory or space system program office (SPO), particularity with Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) systems
• Proven experience in satellite communications systems or analytic problem-solving relating to the performance of RF communication systems, especially satellite systems, and including topics such as signal processing methods and algorithms, signal modulation and encoding schemes, direct sequence spread spectrum signal analysis, radiometry and extraction or enhancement of low power signals from a noise background
• Demonstrated experience with low power communication systems and associated algorithms and methods
• Familiarity or experience with RF hardware systems including antenna systems, RF receivers, and high-speed digital recorders
• Familiarity with satellite communication systems and threats
• Experience using Systems Tool Kit (STK), Linux, or COAST/FIST